‘Don’t Call Me Sweetheart’: Martha MacCallum and Randi Weingarten Brawl on Fox News
Fox News’ Martha MacCallum and American Federation of Teacher President Randi Weingarten duked it out over educational issues on air Tuesday.
After discussing a Supreme Court case concerning opt-outs and LGBTQ+ materials in a Maryland public school system, MacCallum submitted that parents of all background are concerned over an emphasis on “woke ideology” when student performance in subjects like math and reading are “plummeting.”
“Look at this. I mean this-, if this isn’t a failure that needs to be so much more important than whether or not you’re reading a book about your pronouns,” said MacCallum. “This is the Maryland rankings. Fourth graders, these same little kids who’ve had these books, you know, fed to them at a very young age, their reading ranked in 2013, they were second in the nation in Maryland. 2024, 20th. Math, 16th in the nation plummeting down to 39th. So if if I were a parent in this district, I would be saying, ‘Please, please leave these books out of the picture teach my child to read and to do math okay, and let’s focus on why we’re there.'”
Weingarten responded by arguing that Florida is struggling in the rankings while much more liberal Massachusetts, which is “very much embedded in equality and diversity” are doing better because “there is far more funding and there is a real culture of a safe and welcoming school.”
The pair continued to spar until eventually Weingarten regained the floor for a moment to say “Martha, Martha, sweetheart, sweetheart, listen to me–”
“Please don’t call me sweetheart,” retorted a visibly disgusted MacCallum.
“I’m sorry — my bad,” replied Weingarten before submitting that more funding for schools makes a huge difference and citing Mississippi as an example.
“Well, one of the things that they’ve done in Mississippi is to expand choice. They’re also doing something really important in Mississippi, which is to expand teacher training,” shot back MacCallum.
Watch above via Fox News.
