Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) bizarrely claims liberal teachers are introducing students to “explicit pornography” in the classroom.
Cruz–who infamously liked a pornographic tweet in 2017 then blamed it on a staffer– could not give one example of teachers bringing porn into the classroom. Instead, he pointed to efforts by parents to get certain books banned from public schools and libraries.
“Take a look at some of the portions from books that parents are going to school boards and reading out loud; this is what my child is being taught,'” Cruz told Insider. “And in too many instances, you have left-wing educators putting explicit pornography in front of kids. I think that is severely misguided.”
“I don’t believe schools should be teaching explicit pornography to kids and advocates on the left that want schools to teach explicit pornography to kids are far out of the mainstream,” he added. “I think most moms and most dads don’t want their elementary school teaching pornography to their children. They want them teaching, reading and writing, and math history.”
Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association called Cruz’s claim “baloney,” and said he’s trying to appeal to the “far right of the right wing.”
“I’m not aware of any explicit pornography that any teachers – left wing, right wing or middle of the road – are deliberately exposing school students to in Texas,” Robinson said. “I find it far more pornographic that senator Cruz played a part in trying to overturn a fair and legitimate election in 2020,” he added.
The Texas Library Association also fired back at Ted Cruz, saying his claim that children are being introduced to explicit sexual material in class is “simply not the case.”
“Proponents of banning books would have you believe that children are being subjected to pornographic materials in school libraries, that simply is not the case,” the association said. “TLA believes that parents have the right to decide what their children read, but nobody has the right to make those decisions for everyone’s children.”
Cruz’s comments come as Texas emerged as a leader in the fight to ban books that deal with race, racism, sex, gender and sexuality. NBC News compiled a list of 50 books parents in Texas want to remove from public schools and library shelves. The list includes Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s biography, “Michelle Obama: Political Icon,” by Heather E. Schwartz. A parent complained that the book “unfairly” depicts former President Donald Trump as a “bully” and makes white girls feel ashamed of themselves.
