Heritage President Talks Woke Educators, Ukraine Aid, & Future of Conservatism

Heritage President Talks Woke Educators, Ukraine Aid, & Future of Conservatism

May 25, 2022 3 min read

WASHINGTON—Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts published two major op-eds and joined high-profile broadcast shows in the last week to talk about a host of pressing policy issues, including the threat woke educators pose to the future of American schools and to our families, the flawed Ukraine supplemental rushed through Congress last week, and the future of the conservative movement.

In an interview with Fox Business’ David Asman Tuesday, Roberts emphasized that schools should be complementing the work of parents, not seeking to replace them:

“I can tell you, when I ran a K-12 school, that we relied on parents to help, to volunteer, but most of all, to be parents.What we did in the classroom—what we do in classrooms as teachers—ought to complement what starts first in American homes. When we hear teacher union officials, when we hear school teachers themselves, principals, superintendents, saying ‘Parents, don’t come anywhere near here. Don’t even have the gall to ask us questions about what we’re teaching your kids,’ I’m just letting you know from this educator, that should be a red flag. We ought to lean into that as parents on behalf of kids, politics aside, and remind teachers their job is to educate, not indoctrinate.”

Roberts also joined Steve Bannon on “War Room: Pandemic” to discuss Congress ramming through $40 billion in aid to Ukraine without any debate or consideration, as well as the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party:

“Our establishments folks, the K Street lobbyists who wrote that bill, created the typical false dichotomy in Washington and that is that if…you would oppose that package, it means that you oppose the heroism of the individual Ukrainians. What we are saying is that we have to, when we approach foreign policy—whether its about Ukraine, about China, about Latin America—ask the first question first, and the first question is, ‘What is in the best interests of the American people?’ We weren’t able to ask that question or any other questions regarding that aid package…”

On Ukraine, Roberts also spoke with WMAL host Vince Coglianese Friday about how Americans across the country wants Congress and the Biden administration to stand up for their interests first:

“[T]his is a typical, D.C. false dichotomy. That is to say, if you oppose this spending package, then you must be opposed to the Ukrainians, to Zelenskyy. You must be a friend of Putin. What we’re saying at The Heritage Foundation is that when you’re spending that kind of money, especially in such an inflationary environment and especially when there’s $31 trillion in debt, your doggone well better stop long enough to have a conversation about it. … This is a typical D.C. action that has ignored the best interests of the American people. And to answer my own question, and yours Vince, about what is in the best interests of the American people, it would be a much smaller aid package that’s focused on armaments so that the Ukrainians can win. And then, between now and whenever the next aid package consideration comes up, let’s answer the question, ‘What’s America’s grand strategy and, most importantly, what’s in the best interest of the American people?’ When we answer that question and have actual hearings and debates on the next package, I think you would find a Heritage Foundation and a majority of Americans rather supportive.”

Roberts also sat down with American Moment’s Saurabh Sharma on the “Moment of Truth” podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of the conservative movement, and the future of institutions like Heritage, as well as the state of the conservative public policy when it comes to trade, foreign policy with Russia, Ukraine, and China, and what must be done to save the American republic. Listen here, or watch here.

Roberts also penned two op-eds this week, one for The Wall Street Journal criticizing Congress’ manipulation of the latest crisis of the moment to spend American taxpayer dollars without any debate, and the second for Public Discourse on the future of the conservative movement. Read them here:

Wall Street Journal: No More Congressional Fire Drills
Public Discourse: The Future of Conservatism: Community, the Common Good, and State Power

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