MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace argued Tuesday night that GOP propaganda and fake fomentation over the rise of critical race theory in schools is what led to a Republican rout of Democrats in Virginia’s statewide elections.
“Critical race theory, which isn’t real, turned the suburbs 15 points to the Trump insurrection endorsed Republican,” Wallace said on the air while covering Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin’s shock victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
As counting continued late into the night Tuesday, Youngkin maintained a healthy lead over Democratic candidate and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Republicans also appeared to take the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general in the state, which President Joe Biden won by more than 10 percentage points just one year ago.
During her show on MSNBC, a clearly rattled Wallace blasted Republican attacks on the educational implementation of critical race theory, an ideology that re-examines society through a racial lens and presumes that race is a constructed concept used primarily to exploit people of color.
The “Deadline: White House” host even tried to whitewash the theory by claiming it “isn’t real” despite mounds of evidence to the contrary.
Critics on Twitter quickly charged Wallace with spreading misinformation, citing materials recently obtained by conservative journalist and filmmaker Christopher Rufo.
On Oct. 30, Rufo pointed out that under Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), public education officials endorsed the explicit use of critical race theory as an “important analytic tool” to “further spur developments in education.”
He also noted, “Right now, on its website, the Virginia Department of Education recommends ‘Critical Race Theory in Education’ as a ‘best practice’ and derives its definitions of ‘racism,’ ‘white supremacy,’ and ‘education equity’ explicitly from ‘critical race theory.'”
Radical progressive changes in schools in the state — including the teaching of critical race theory and the adoption of transgender-affirming policies — are believed to have played a large part in the GOP’s Tuesday night victories.
Yet McAuliffe, like Wallace, suggested in the final days of his campaign that critical race theory is nothing more than a “racist dog whistle” used to misleadingly rile up Republican voters.
The former governor also claimed that the theory has “never been taught in Virginia,” even though in 2015, his very own administration reportedly instructed public schools to embrace it.