Beckwith: I’ll dox Hoosier administrators who don’t let me teach “true history” in their schools
GOP candidate for lieutenant governor tells delegates he plans to give lessons on American exceptionalism in Indiana schools if elected
At a meeting of GOP convention delegates in Fort Wayne last week, Noblesville pastor Micah Beckwith said that if he is elected as Indiana’s next lieutenant governor, he intends to spend a significant amount of his term in Hoosier schools — whether the administrators want him there or not.
Beckwith is challenging State Representative Julie McGuire for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor at this Saturday’s Indiana Republican state convention. McGuire is gubernatorial nominee Mike Braun‘s choice to be his running mate in the November general election, but the party’s 1,814 convention delegates will ultimately make that decision.
“I’m going to travel the state,” Beckwith told a room full of delegates on June 5 in Fort Wayne. “I’m going to get to as many schools – elementary, middle schools, and high schools – as I possibly can. I’m going to call up superintendents and principals, and then every week I’m going to try to be somewhere in the state teaching the next generation on what it means to be an American, and why we are the greatest nation on the face of this earth.”
Several people in the room responded to that with applause.
Beckwith then said that when he’s shared his plan to teach weekly in Indiana schools as lieutenant governor, some have asked what he would do if a superintendent or principal refused to let him do that.
“There’s probably a lot of superintendents and principals in today’s culture that would not want someone like me coming in and teaching on true history,” he told the delegates, “and what it means to be an American.”
Beckwith said if that happened, it would be “okay” and an example of “local government control. We’re not going to come in and bully them around, as the state.”
In the next breath, however, he described his plan to apply pressure on any administrator who does not allow Beckwith to teach in their school by calling out that person on social media, a practice known as doxing.
“I do have a platform,” he told the delegates, “and a pulpit. And if a superintendent or principal ever says, ‘Uh, Mr. Lieutenant Governor, you’re not allowed to come into our school and teach on American exceptionalism…’ Well, I have a Twitter account. I think it would be really nice for Indiana to know what superintendent or principal said that, right?”
Once the administrator was exposed, Beckwith explained, delegates and other like-minded Hoosiers could then attempt to pressure that person into changing his or her mind.
“And then you guys in your local communities can go to that Mr. Principal or Madam Superintendent and say, ‘Hey! Why won’t you let the lieutenant governor come in and talk about American exceptionalism?’”
In the process, Beckwith said, his supporters would discover which education professionals he believes need to be removed from their jobs.
“It might root out some bad apples, because we need good teachers. We need to support good teachers, but we also need to root out the bad apples. And there are bad apples in teaching.”
“American Exceptionalism” 🤮 it’s that kind of intellectually dishonest bravado that is antithetical to the American experiment. I did not become an American citizen to vote for candidates who have zero respect for the separation of church and state. I applaud beckwith for wearing his heart on his sleeve. Makes it incredibly easy to understand his true character.
Stephen Garden wrote it more eloquently, and it was perfect! But I’m inclined to just say the first thing that comes to mind: “Ho hum … another zealous, pretend-Christian who wants to be a political cult leader.”
People with a lick of common sense can see through this snake oil sales pitch.