Donald Trump Jr.'s Video About Teachers Has Twitter Seeing Red
His father may be out of public office and banned from social media, but Donald Trump Jr. is carrying on the family tradition of making his opinions known loudly and frequently on the internet. He's still an active presence on social media outlets like Twitter, although he has added a new platform to the list: Rumble. Similar to YouTube, the site allows members to create and share videos, and is becoming the outlet of choice for conservatives because it's thought to encourage more uncensored free speech (via Fast Company).
Like the former president, Trump Jr. spends much of his online time criticizing the policies of newly minted President Joe Biden and prominent Democrats such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. When Ted Cruz came under fire for jetting to Cancún with his family while millions of Texans were without power, Don Jr. called the reaction "fauxoutrage" and said the state's governor was responsible for handling the crisis. (His choice of punctuation in his tweet led to debate over whether he had incorrectly referred to Gov. Abbott as a Democrat.)
One of Trump Jr.'s most recent Rumble videos, however, took aim at an unexpected target – and Twitter is not having it.
Donald Trump Jr. spoke out against union teachers
In a video he titled "These Teachers Unions are Out of CONTROL," Donald Trump Jr. railed against teachers' unions. He claimed that unions are fighting to keep schools closed indefinitely, even as the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more widely available for teachers. He accused union teachers of wanting to get paid for doing nothing and called for reform of the American education system as a whole.
This alone was enough to prompt angry responses from Twitter, such as this one: "Don't blame teachers for your dad's failure to stop a virus from spiraling out of control or failing you in school." Another respondent said, "Oh, please, Jr., spare us your expertise. Unions want the vulnerable teacher[s] to be safe or vaccinated before returning to schools." A self-described teacher did a little fact-checking on Twiter: "The AFT and UFT have been pushing to reopen schools AGAINST the wishes of many members." Other educators were outraged at being called lazy; they cited the difficulty of juggling online and in-person teaching, the long hours they put in, and the money they spend out-of-pocket on supplies that their schools can't afford.
But what really raised red flags was that Don Jr. delivered his tirade in front of a wall of guns. Many respondents were horrified that Donald Jr. would choose this backdrop for a speech about schools, given the history of school shootings in the US. And one user wondered: "Parents are their children's first teachers. What's he teaching his children? To stockpile weapons?"