A Michigan high school teacher and baseball coach claims he was fired for tweeting that “Trump is our president.”
Social studies teacher Justin Kucera worked for the Walled Lake school district and said he was brought into a closed-door meeting over a tweet stating Trump is the president and was given the options of being fired or resign, he told the Washington Free Beacon.
“I was required to meet with [human resources], the superintendent, and my principal [on July 10]. They initially took my statement on why I tweeted those tweets and they told me they would have a decision about my future employment in the upcoming days. When they completed the meeting, I was told I had the option to either be fired or resign.” Kucera said.
His tweet from July 6 is still posted to his account and reads, “I’m done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president. Don’t @ me.”
I’m done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president ❌?
Don’t @ me
— Coach Kucera (@CoachKWLW) July 7, 2020
“I know a lot of people are just rooting for Trump to fail, and I don’t think that anybody should do that,” Kucera said of why he posted the tweet. “Agree with him or not, you should want the president to do well. I apologized that [my tweet] brought so much negative attention, but I’m not sorry for what I said.”
Students, parents, and former teachers said Kucera was a popular teacher, according to the report, and one student said his political opinions never seeped into the classroom or on the baseball field.
“Prior to Mr. Kucera’s tweet, I cannot recall an instance where he shared his political affiliations while teaching or coaching,” Bryant Hixson, a recent graduate, said. “My political views have no impact on how I feel towards Mr. Kucera. Mr. Kucera has always been supportive of me as my AP World History and student leadership teacher and as my baseball and basketball coach.”
A parent who spoke on the condition of anonymity echoed Hixson’s statement.
“Justin coached my son his entire high school career and also was his AP History teacher and student leadership teacher for two years. I know Justin very well,” the parent said. “If there’s one thing that I would commend Justin for is, he always tried to stay apolitical. He always tried to stay right down the middle, avoid [political] conversations, and let the students make their own call based on their own life experiences.”
Walled Lake school district did not immediately return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the matter.
