‘Twisted web of lies’: Donald Trump launches attack on ‘left-wing indoctrination’ in US schools

Donald Trump speaking at the National Archives in Washington, DC

Credit: Alex Edelman/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Donald Trump has created a national commission to promote “patriotic education” as he decried the “twisted web of lies” being taught in US schools and linked the “left-wing indoctrination” of children to this year’s violent protests.

The US president used a speech at the National Archives on Thursday to both mark the anniversary of the US Constitution’s signing in 1787 and launch a broadside on what he claimed was a “distorted” view of history being pushed by some teachers.

“Teaching this horrible doctrine to our children is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words. For many years now, the radicals have mistaken Americans’ silence for weakness. But they’re wrong,” Mr Trump said.

“There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children. And patriotic mums and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country.”

The intervention is his latest attempt to frame the election as a cultural battle between patriots defending the values their country was founded on and “radical” left-wingers, the role he has cast the Democrats in.

During the speech Mr Trump singled out for criticism The 1619 Project, a New York Times journalistic endeavour which dug into the history of racism in America and is named after the year when the first slaves arrived in Virginia.

He said: “The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies. There is no better example than the New York Times’ totally discredited 1619 Project. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom.”

At another moment Mr Trump said: “We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms, and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country.”

Critics have accused the president of pushing a framing of America’s cultural battles which is divisive and inaccurate.

The full details of Mr Trump’s new commission were not initially released. The Education Department is barred by federal law from mandating curriculum on schools, meaning it is unclear what powers will be given to the commission.