Instead of starting with a problem that both Democratic and Republican voters can agree exists and then incorporating his own conservative stance, he has immediately launched himself to the far-right. He has attacked education as being “too woke” and argued that teachers are indoctrinating children. But the idea that teachers are largely partisan actors is only shared by a tiny segment of Republican voters.

According to a recent Pew Research study, 44 percent of Republicans (and 42 percent of Democrats) believe that teachers’ influence in the classroom is just about right. Only 16 percent of Republicans think teachers’ influence in the classroom is oversized.