American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, fresh off a trip to Ukraine, recently stumped for Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, spurring investigative journalist Peter Schweizer to call for an audit of her organization.
Schweizer, who has also done deep-dives into allegations of personal and corporate corruption among the Biden family, told Fox News the AFT contributed tens of millions of dollars as of late to outside political groups as public school students flounder with plummeting test scores and academic aptitude.
On “Jesse Watters Primetime,” host Jesse Watters noted Weingarten recently traveled to Ukraine to tour schools affected by the Russian invasion and stumped for high-profile midterm Democrats.
“You know who’s on our side? You know who the problem-solver is? Gov. Whitmer,” Weingarten shouted from the stage at a recent Michigan event.
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Peter Schweizer appears on Fox News.
(Fox News)
“And then on the other side, who is stoking up resentment, anger and fear — who’s using kids as political pawns?” she asked.
Weingarten also joined first lady Jill Biden this week to stump for a bevy of Pittsburgh Democrats, reportedly claiming GOP candidates would torpedo social security and ban abortion.
In response, Schweizer said teachers unions have always trended “left-of-center,” but that they have also now become more political and less interested in their stated goal of representing educators.
“They’ve moved from being a liberal, sort of ‘Walter Mondale liberals,’ to being extremely left-wing,” he said. “So you’ve got these teachers unions, for example, pouring millions of dollars into groups that are pushing for Defund the Police. How does that help education? How does that help teachers? It doesn’t. It makes their lives more difficult.”
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Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks during the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Legislative and Grassroots Mobilization Conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. President Donald Trump released his annual budget Monday, proposing deep cuts to social programs but increases in defense and entitlement spending that would push the gross federal debt above $30 trillion over the next decade. Photographer: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“So you’ve really seen the union leadership go off-the-rails. And I think it’s time for there to be accountability. Members need to start paying attention with the leadership is actually spending the money on it… there needs to be an audit.”
Schweizer noted that his organization, the Government Accountability Institute, is a nonprofit like many unions.
“When you form a nonprofit, you state what your mission purpose is. That’s the reason you’re giving tax-exempt status, for example,” he said, adding that just as his GAI couldn’t suddenly move from watchdog journalism to “horticulture,” teachers unions cannot expressly become political outfits.
He said the Internal Revenue Service led by the Trump-appointed Charles Rettig should be “all over” Weingarten and other teachers unions regarding their tax statuses.
However, he said he is not “holding his breath” for Rettig’s agency to act.
