Wake Democrats delete tweet that accused school board critics of spreading conspiracies
The Wake County Democratic Party has deleted a tweet that accused critics of the school board of showing bad behavior and being conspiracy theorists.
On Saturday, the Wake County Democratic Party tweeted a shout out to the school board’s Democratic members “for caring about our kids & showing courage, grace, & patience while facing misinformation, lies, threats, and bad behavior from some Wake County parents & citizens.”
The tweet included a cartoon that originally ran in the St. Lake Tribune titled “Bored of Education” that depicted school board critics as QAnon followers, white supremacists, anti-vaxxers, opponents of Critical Race Theory and Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrectionists. Some speakers at Wake school board meetings have opposed requiring face masks, questioned the COVID-19 vaccine and accused the district of promoting Critical Race Theory.
The tweet produced a backlash that ultimately led to it being deleted.
“The intent of last weekend’s posts (now removed) was to show our School Board’s exemplary leadership during this pandemic and the pressures they face,” Kevyn Creech, Wake County Democratic Party chairman, tweeted Tuesday. “WCPSS members weren’t consulted; the impact had the opposite effect. We stand by their fact-based leadership.”
The school board has distanced itself from the tweet. School board chairwoman Lindsay Mahaffey said she and other board members reached out to the Wake County Democratic Party to express their concerns about the tweet.
“We didn’t find it productive,” Mahaffey said in an interview. “Our focus is students and schools.”
Calls to denounce tweet
Some people have called for the school board to denounce the tweet.
“The only correct thing to do here, WCPSS BOE is to denounce this bad faith, inappropriate, and insensitive cartoon,” state Rep. Erin Paré, a Wake County Republican, tweeted Sunday. “It’s time we work together and get back to the business of making sure our children have the best education possible in Wake County.”
Initially, Wake Democrats responded to the backlash with another tweet defending the first post. That tweet has also been deleted.
“Shout out to those who replied to our Thanks tweet we posted yesterday to the School Board and personified for everyone what these members are facing & why it is important to thank them for their service and stand up for them!!” Wake Democrats tweeted. “Thanks for proving our point!!”
School board races in Wake County are officially non-partisan contests. But both the Wake County Democratic Party and Wake County Republican Party have historically backed school board candidates.
All nine school board seats in North Carolina’s largest school district will be on the November ballot.
2 school board members liked tweet
Critics of the tweet pointed to how school board members Jim Martin and Heather Scott had liked the post. They later unliked the tweet.
“You know what this tweet tells me,” Amanda Horlebein said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “It tells me that this is what Wake Democrats and this board think about dissenting parents. It shows the heart of Wake Democrats and this board.
“Wake County school board believes parents who advocate for their children are crazy conspiracy theorists.”
Scott said she had liked the tweet after being tagged on the post. But she said it was a mistake on her part .
“The Democratic Party did not ask any board member if they could be included in any kind of message that had an inflammatory tone, and I would not have agreed to have my name attached to anything that had an inflammatory tone,” Scott said in an interview.
“Speaking for my own relationship that I have with families, I have always wanted every person to feel like they could reach out to their board member.”
Martin said the tweet had been liked by the volunteer who runs his campaign Twitter account because it thanked board members. He said the person hadn’t paid attention to the cartoon.
“Inflaming people is rarely helpful,” Martin said in an interview. “The tweet was unliked. That should be the end of the story.”
Heated rhetoric continues at meetings
The controversy over the tweet is the latest chapter in an escalating culture war taking place at school board meetings across the nation. This scene played out again at Tuesday’s Wake school board meeting.
Katie Long crossed a security barrier during her public comments to serve a letter of intent against the school board for what she called 26 violations of state, federal and international laws.
Long said legal action would be taken within 72 hours unless the school board takes steps such as removing the school mask mandate, ending COVID-19 testing in schools and removing offensive materials from all school libraries.
“She pays your paycheck,” an audience member said when (board chairwoman) Mahaffey told Long to give the papers to the board attorney instead of crossing the barrier. “She can actually fire you today.”
Martin, the board member, said that it would help if people used less inflammatory language. For instance, he said multiple people have called him a Nazi in emails.
Speakers have made statements at board meetings such as urging school board members to repent to God and calling transgenderism filth and evil. On Tuesday, a speaker called board attorney Jon Blumberg a “homeboy.”
“Calling our lawyer a homeboy was hate speech,” Martin said.
This story was originally published January 19, 2022 at 2:26 PM.
