The president of the National Education Association (NEA) was derided over the weekend for delivering a “totally out of line” speech that reminded critics of a comedy skit from a popular American TV show.
At the NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representatives Conference (RA) in Philadelphia, NEA President Becky Pringle slammed the podium, waved her hands in the air and repeatedly shouted that she had won “everything.” X’s critics likened the moment to the iconic scene with Dwight Schrute in “The Office.”
In a high-pitched voice, Pringle called for equity and social justice change in the education system.
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Users of X compared him to a character from the comedy series “The Office.” (Fox News Digital | YouTube | Screenshot)
“It’s about uniting not just our party but our entire country to reclaim public education as a public good, a foundation of our democracy, and transforming it into the racially and socially just and equitable system it was never intended to be,” Pringle said. “We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful and corrupt White House, but the reality is that the seeds sown during that horrific time continue to sprout.”
“We are those who help shape the very core of this country’s hopes and dreams. We are those who remain firm believers in the realization of the possible. We are the successors of all those who did this work before us. We must keep going. Fellow NEA delegates, we can do this work. We must do this work,” she added.
“Our students are counting on us to have every win,” Pringle said, continuing to plead in her high-pitched voice. “Every win! Every win! Every win.”
Critics such as school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis called her speech “outrageous” and likened it to a scene from “The Office.”
“These power-hungry control freaks think your kids are theirs. They’re part of a government-worshipping, parent-hating cult. It’s time to defund teachers unions and let that money follow kids,” Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital. “Becky Pringle has done what Dwight Schrute did. She’s insane and hell-bent on controlling the minds of other people’s kids.”
NEA President Becky Pringle was compared to Dwight Schrute from “The Office” in front of the Philadelphia delegation on July 4th. (YouTube/Screenshot)
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Dwight’s speech creators based his exaggerated performance on an actual speech by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
“Only blood moves the wheels of history!,” Schrute said in the episode. “This has been a lifelong struggle. It is a never-ending struggle. I tell you, you will understand that it is a privilege to fight! We are warriors!… Rise up, be worthy of this historic moment! A revolution is worthless if it cannot defend itself!… We must never give in, because together, together we can win!”
Critics said Pringle’s speeches had a similar high-pitched tone and mannerisms, and he proposed reforming the education system with a view to social justice.
“Her excessive and hyper-partisan tirade amounts to advertising for school choice,” Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Becky Pringle has done what Dwight Schrute did: she’s insane and desperate to maintain control over the minds of other people’s children,” one commentator said of NEA president Becky Pringle. (YouTube/Screenshot)
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“During her speech, Ms. Pringle insisted that the National Education Association ‘will continue to embrace the deep trust placed in it,’ apparently unaware that polls show public confidence in public schools is at an all-time low,” he added. “Not even Ms. Pringle’s Dwight Schrute-like high-five can distract from her union’s role in the dire state of education in this country – keeping schools closed for extended periods during the pandemic and allowing bad teachers to escape accountability, all at the expense of student learning.”
Political consultant, Matt Doll came to a similar conclusion.believing the fictional Schrute to be Pringle’s “speech coach.”
This wasn’t the first time critics had made this comparison.
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In last year’s RA speech, Jack Crow of National Review said:“Pringle believes she’s a revolutionary. That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from the truly insane speeches she gave.”
“Mr. Pringle is urging his colleagues to, in Dwight Schrute’s words, ‘fight for freedom,’ rather than boost the nation’s embarrassing reading and math scores,” National Review added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
