After a strong showing last week, Republicans believe the party’s focus on parents and schools in recent months is what will help them win in 2022. The campaign platform of Virginia governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has been especially influential in this messaging push, as the candidate attacked his Democratic opponent over so-called critical race theory curriculum and his stance on the pandemic-era safety measures––including mask mandates––instituted in Virginia schools.
In a letter to GOP colleagues that called for a “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy asserted that the results of the Virginia election prove that “parents are demanding more control and accountability in the classroom.” On Sunday, McCarthy appeared on Mark Levin’s Fox News program to repeat this message. “This is America waking up and taking back what they understand that they have lost before,” he said. “It’s Republicans respecting the rights of parents, from Loudoun County across the nation. I see something much bigger than Democrats realize.”
From McCarthy and Youngkin, the notion has continued to spread through the Republican Party. During an interview with Fox’s Jeanine Pirro over the weekend, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich condemned Democrats as “the party of left-wing ideologues and the teachers union. It’s the radicals at the top of the teachers union that make it impossible for Democrats to be the party of parents, because the radicals don’t want any kind of parental involvement in what they decide to indoctrinate their children with.” Conservative figures including Jim Jordan, Tom Cotton, Mercedes Schlapp, and Steve Cortes have likewise taken up the call.
Voters, too, are perpetuating the message. In a recent CNN segment, a group of four suburban Virginia mothers––three of whom voted for Joe Biden in the presidential election, and all of whom voted for Youngkin over Democratic rival Terry McAuliffe––spoke about Youngkin’s appeal. “Our kids are in crisis,” said Shawnna Yashar. “The learning loss is real. We’re in a situation where our kids are really far behind and they need a lot of help.” She added that COVID-19 school safety “mandates and CRT did not influence my decision at all.” Another mother said that Youngkin “listened to us” and “spent a lot of one-on-one time with parents,” unlike McAuliffe.
Kay Greenwell, a mother who took issue with the school closures mandated by the state’s Democratic government, said she decided not to vote for McAuliffe “on his last day of campaigning. He brought the head of the teachers union to his rally and she spoke, and it was like someone just poked me right in the eye and said, ‘You think you want to have a say in your [child’s] education? Well you’re not going to.’”
— In Major Shift, NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan
— Matt Gaetz Reportedly Screwed Six Ways From Sunday
— Joe Biden Reaffirms Trump’s Has-Been Status Over Jan. 6 Documents
— The Metaverse Is About to Change Everything
— The Weirdness of Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s Reluctant Leader
— The Jan. 6 Committee Is Finally Getting Trump Allies to Spill
— Jeffrey Epstein’s Billionaire Friend Leon Black Is Under Investigation
— Facebook’s Reckoning With Reality—And the Metaverse-Size Problems to Come
— From the Archive: Robert Durst, the Fugitive Heir
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.