In what was probably obvious to anyone without a Trump sign in their yard, the outrageous claim made by Trump’s Education Secretary pick that schools were using guns to protect children from grizzly bears is false. It was debunked by a teacher within hours. In Trump’s American, the cycle of “outrageous claim” to “bullshit” is now less than a day.
Betsy DeVos was getting systematically demolished during her congressional hearing meant to test her experience and preparedness for the job. Having no experience in public education (she’s a conservative billionaire who sends her children to religious private schools), it was up to her to at least prove she was prepared. She wasn’t. And she fell flat on her face in a cringeworthy session that even Republicans struggled to defend.
At one of her lowest points, DeVos found herself defending Trump’s plan to allow guns in schools by suggesting that they are sometimes used to defend children from grizzly bears.
Betsy DeVos wants to allow guns in schools because there might be bears #DumpDeVos pic.twitter.com/5vEFhZR64W
— American Bridge (@American_Bridge) January 18, 2017
DeVos:
“I will refer back to Senator Enzi and the school he was talking about in Wyoming … I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the schools to protect from potential grizzlies.”
No. No there aren’t.
As Mic.com reported, a Wyoming teacher was adamant that it is not school policy to keep guns on the premises to fend of bears.
Audra Morrow, a teacher at Wyoming’s Valley Elementary School from 2004 to 2006, explained to Mic that no guns were necessary to ward off ursids, and that the fence and bear spray were “absolutely” sufficient measures on their own.
“No firearms in our schools!” Morrow wrote. “We do have bear spray but have never had a problem that would require using it.”
The number of bear attacks in North America is 3 deaths per year - none on school grounds. By contrast, there were over 200 school shootings in the United States in the last 3 years. Bears aren’t the problem, but the right to bear arms may be.
It’s important to remember that DeVos’s comment isn’t just a “gaffe,” it was a deliberate response meant to justify an unjustifiable position. Having no legitimate defense of Trump’s dangerous plan to remove gun-free zones on “day one” of his presidency, she fabricated bear attacks. This is the sad state of affairs we’ve come to. The policies are so unreasonable, that the defenses of them need to be pure fantasy.
But thankfully for the Trump camp, lying comes easily.
Featured image via C-SPAN
