AFT’s Weingarten on Hillary Clinton’s Speech and the 'Trump Effect'

NEWTOWN, Conn.—Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Hillary Clinton’s speech in Reno, Nev., on Donald Trump’s toxic rhetoric:

“On Thursday, I visited schools in Newtown, Conn., and spent time with parents and teachers as they prepared for school to begin in the new Sandy Hook Elementary School building. The educators who died in Newtown in 2012 were AFT members, and those students were our children. That tragedy weighs heavy on the hearts of the people of Newtown to this day. When Hillary Clinton said of those who belittle or deny the horrors of what happened there, “I don’t know ... how dark their hearts must be to say things like that,” she was right, and she was brave. 

“Donald Trump spoke on Thursday too, and I watched. I watched as Trump once again stoked a crowd to chant, with no basis in fact, ‘Lock her up.’ As we’ve seen throughout his campaign, Trump gives the speeches of a man who wants to stoke hate. It shocks the conscience to see a candidate for president more interested in inciting hate, and demonizing people, than in solving problems. 

“In Newtown, we see the best of America: a town coming together to heal, and teachers going into a new building to continue the work of educating our children. In Trump, we see a man pandering to the worst instincts of America—a man whose toxic rhetoric has already echoed through too many school hallways across this country. Our members report increased bullying, hate speech and vitriol from students over recent months, and it’s easy to see where they’re learning it when you listen to Trump speak. America does not need his brand of hate. We know where it can lead.

“That Donald Trump would countenance and condone supporters who spread the most sadistic, demonic nonsense about Sandy Hook—and has lacked the courage to stand up to it—in and of itself disqualifies him from office.”