'North Korea-level propagandizing': OK schools to teach Trump's debunked claim 2020 election was rigged
Thousands of high school students in the state of Oklahoma will now be mandated to study President Donald Trump's debunked claims that the 2020 election was rigged. This topic will be integrated as an official element of the updated social studies curriculum developed by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (R), per a report from Popular Information.
This addition will go into effect starting with the 2025-26 academic year.
According to the report, Walters said in March that the purpose of this section was to teach "students to think for themselves" and "not be spoon-fed left-wing propaganda."
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"In fact, the new curriculum is simply an amalgamation of unsupported and debunked claims. The new curriculum will cost Oklahoma taxpayers at least $33M," said Judd Legum, one of the reporters who broke the story.
Political commentators and journalists criticized the decision on social media, expressing concerns that schoolchildren in the state will be exposed to propaganda. Trump's claims about the 2020 election being "stolen" have been repeatedly debunked.
Journalist Isaac Saul wrote on the social platform X: "This is obscene."
User @dcpetterson wrote: "Read all of these items. This is North Korea-level propagandizing, indoctrinating schoolkids with blatantly false Orwellian bullshit."
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Journalist Tom Mallory said, "This is despicable. Grooming radicals."
User @GaryCrooks wrote: "Economics: 'Discuss how 2024 was the Trump stock market and 2025 was the Biden stock market.' World History: “Discuss the events leading up to Ukraine’s invasion of Russia.' Science: “Discuss how autism was caused by vaccines and how fluoride made us too dumb to see it.'"
AlterNet reached out to the Oklahoma State Department of Education for comment.
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