In an interview with Fox News, former president and Republicans’ current presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump said he hoped to “end” the federal Department of Education if he wins another term in office, though he also allowed in this scenario for what sounded like a minute level of federal supervision to remain.
“We’re gonna cut the Department of Education, let it be run locally,” Trump said, adding that his plans were to “end it, end it, other than to have a little, tiny coordination,” suggesting it would be important to ensure “everybody is teaching English.”
Targeting that federal department has actually already been a far-right ambition for a while. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) already proposed legislation in this very Congress that would end that department’s operations, and it actually accumulated 32 cosponsors. That list includes usual suspects like GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), and Matt Gaetz (Fla.).
A clip of Trump’s remarks from the Fox interview was highlighted by a rapid response team that’s part of the Biden re-election campaign.
“If you have a child or know a child and think they should learn stuff, you might want to listen to this,” remarked Dr. Annie Andrews, Their Future PAC founder, on X (formerly Twitter) in reply. In another widely viewed reply, South Carolina political advocate Emily Mayer warned about some of the potential repercussions: “1 in every 10 public school students’ education is funded by federal money. Removing the federal oversight of education means ending protections for special education students. Listen to what they mean when they say this.”
Trump’s potentially dubious plans for another term in office extend from there, as he is also proposing extensive deportations and legal help for Jan. 6/Capitol riot defendants, among other moves.
