President Trump named the 18 people he believes will restore patriotism to the nation’s education system via his “1776 Commission,” including historians, administration officials, and political supporters, such as conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk.
It follows Trump’s repeated attacks on “critical race theory” and marks his response to the “1619 Project” of the New York Times, which places slavery and the contributions of black people at the heart of the country’s history.
Among the figures appointed to two-year terms are Brooke Rollins, acting director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian and conservative pundit.
Kirk, who founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, has emerged as one of Trump’s most energetic supporters, railing against coronavirus restrictions and refusing to accept that the president was defeated by President-elect Joe Biden. His group was censored by Facebook and Twitter for paying supporters to send messages making erroneous claims about the virus and election fraud.
Now, he is among Trump loyalists appointed to posts during the president’s final days in office.
The 1776 Commission was devised by the White House following a summer of Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and as a response to increasingly critical accounts of American history.
Trump has repeatedly criticized diversity programs and issued an executive order banning federal contractors from conducting racial sensitivity training.
“Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda — an ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together,” he said in September.
He signed an executive order setting up the commission on the eve of last month’s election.
“This radicalized view of American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues, twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed and history disfigured,” the order said. “Failing to identify, challenge, and correct this distorted perspective could fray and ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and culture together.”
It directed members to report back within a year on how best to understand and promote the founding principles of the United States, recommendations that would then be used to guide Department of Education grants.
