On Wednesday's The Source with Kaitlan Collins, CNN fill-in host Pamela Brown brought on left-wing American Federation of Teachers union leader Randi Weingarten as a guest so she could bash GOP vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance for criticizing her in a three-year-old clip liberals have recently been hyping.
Brown set up the segment about the liberal opposition research:
Tonight, Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, is facing some fresh scrutiny for yet another disparaging remark he made in the past about people who aren't parents. Vance, of course, has been criticized for his 2021 dig at, quote, "childless cat ladies." It's a comment that he says was a sarcastic joke aimed at Democrats. But, in a newly resurfaced video from that same year, he blasted a teachers union president for not having children of her own.
Then came a clip of then-Senate candidate Vance at an October 2021 candidates forum held by the Center for Christian Virtue in which he complained about how questionable it is for left-wing education activists like Weingarten who are without children themselves to make demands on how children should be taught against the wishes of actual parents.
Brown's first question? "Hi, Randi. You're shaking your head. What's your reaction?" Weingarten, who is married to a female rabbi, dismissed the whole thing as desperate:
I'm used to right wing taking shots at me. You know, they don't like unions, and they don't like public schools. ... they've said -- you know, Christopher Rufo and others -- that they're going to try to create great public school distress. So I'm used to that. But this is what's so crude and gross about what he did here. We're at the start of the school year. Teachers and parents need, right now, to really connect with each other so that we can help kids engage. That's the number one thing that parents want our public schools for their kids.
So when the guy who's running for Vice President now takes on every teacher who doesn't, you know, who he thinks doesn't have kids. By the way, you know, I have kids by marriage. But every teacher he thinks doesn't have kids and takes on every modern family at the same time -- takes on Catholic nuns, takes on new teachers who got married. I mean, what is he doing? What is he thinking? But, for me, what's worse about this, is that it makes it harder for teachers and parents. It makes it harder for kids when he goes on with this rubbish.
If she thinks Vance was talking about Catholic nuns, she's really mistaken.
The CNN host seemed disturbed as she recounted that the Ohio Republican had recently "doubled down" on his comments, "So is that how you heard it, that he wasn't criticizing you for not having kids?" Weingarten suggested that there is "something wrong" with Vance:
Maybe he didn't listen to his own tape for 2021, but the fact he doubled down on teachers today, and, you know, it's just pathetic. Like, he has no idea how I teach or what I taught....We teach kids how to think, not what to think. We teach kids to critically think. We teach kids compassion -- we teach kids caring -- we teach kids communication skills. We teach kids skills so that they can thrive in America, so I have no idea why he would even think that that kind of teaching is brainwashing. I think there must be something wrong with this guy.
Pamela Brown, the daughter of the late Democrat Gov. John Y. Brown, did not follow up by asking Weingarten about her history of defending both Critical Race Theory and a liberal approach to treating gay issues in schools.
Transcript follows:
CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins
August 28, 2024
9:29 p.m. Eastern
PAMELA BROWN: Tonight, Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, is facing some fresh scrutiny for yet another disparaging remark he made in the past about people who aren't parents. Vance, of course, has been criticized for his 2021 dig at, quote, "childless cat ladies." It's a comment that he says was a sarcastic joke aimed at Democrats. But, in a newly resurfaced video from that same year, he blasted a teachers union president for not having children of her own.
J.D. VANCE, GOP VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (speaking at the Center for Christian Virtue, dated Oct. 24, 2021): So many of the leaders of the left -- and I hate to be so personal about this, but they're people without kids trying to brainwash the minds of our children. And that really disorients me and it really disturbs me. Randi Weingarten -- who's the head of the most powerful teachers union in the country -- she doesn't have a single child. If she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own, and leave ours the hell alone.
BROWN: Well, you just heard her name there. My source tonight is Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Hi, Randi. You're shaking your head. What's your reaction?
RANDI WEINGARTEN, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: I mean, look, I'm used to right wing taking shots at me. You know, they don't like unions, and they don't like public schools. They, you know, told us that, and they've said -- you know, Christopher Rufo and others -- that they're going to try to create great public school distress. So I'm used to that. But this is what's so crude and gross about what he did here. We're at the start of the school year. Teachers and parents need, right now, to really connect with each other so that we can help kids engage. That's the number one thing that parents want our public schools for their kids. They want them to thrive -- they want them to engage -- they want them to have a love of learning.
So when the guy who's running for Vice President now takes on every teacher who doesn't, you know, who he thinks doesn't have kids. By the way, you know, I have kids by marriage. But every teacher he thinks doesn't have kids and takes on every modern family at the same time -- takes on Catholic nuns, takes on new teachers who got married. I mean, what is he doing? What is he thinking? But, for me, what's worse about this, is that it makes it harder for teachers and parents. It makes it harder for kids when he goes on with this rubbish. That's what's bad about this. He knows better than this. He should take some responsibility at least at the start of the school year as we're trying to really help kids get into school again.
BROWN: And he made those comments in 2021, but he had more to say --
WEINGARTEN: He doubled down.
BROWN: Yeah, exactly. He doubled down. I mean, he didn't back away -- he didn't apologize -- he didn't, you know -- let's actually listen to it, and then we can talk about that at the other side. So let's listen.
VANCE: I didn't criticize Randi Weingarten for not having kids. I criticized her for wanting to brainwash mine.
BROWN: So is that how you heard it, that he wasn't criticizing you for not having kids?
WEINGARTEN: Well, first he criticized -- I mean, maybe he didn't listen to his own tape for 2021, but the fact he doubled down on teachers today, and, you know, it's just pathetic. Like, he has no idea how I teach or what I taught. He should have come into one of my classrooms -- love, you know, I may be teaching again this spring -- college-teaching this spring. I'll invite him to a classroom. I taught at Cornell last spring. My kids -- just FYI -- were champions -- state and city champions in the Constitution on the Bill of Rights. We teach kids how to think, not what to think. We teach kids to critically think. We teach kids compassion -- we teach kids caring -- we teach kids communication skills. We teach kids skills so that they can thrive in America, so I have no idea why he would even think that that kind of teaching is brainwashing. I think there must be something wrong with this guy.
BROWN: Well, you have invited him now on this show to sit in one of your classes. We'll see if he takes you up on that invitation. Randi Weingarten, thank you so much.
