Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) blasted Democrats after the Virginia state Senate rejected three of his nominees, including an Indian immigrant he nominated to the board of education.
Youngkin said the Senate's rejection of Suparna Dutta to the Virginia Board of Education on Tuesday was evidence that the "liberals don't think parents matter."
"Suparna is a parent, and that's why I put her on our State Board of Education, notwithstanding the fact that she has a master's degree in engineering and she's an Indian immigrant," Youngkin said on Fox News's The Ingraham Angle Wednesday night. "The progressive liberals don't care, and what's stunning to me is that they'll support a board member who believes that we shouldn't teach our children about the Constitution and our Declaration of Independence. This is at the heart of the parents' movement that started in Virginia and is spread across the country, and Virginians are not having it."
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It did not appear that Youngkin was referring to any board member in particular. Dutta's appointment was one of three Youngkin appointments rejected by the Democratic Party-controlled state Senate. The body also rejected the appointment of Steven Buck to the state parole board and Colin Greene's nomination to be Virginia health commissioner.
Dutta's appointment to the board was rejected following a recent board of education meeting in which board member Anne Holton, who is married to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), said that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence could not be considered "remarkable" without "acknowledging that they contain fundamental flaws of enshrining slavery and limiting the protections that they provided for only to white, propertied men." Dutta's appointment had been endorsed by Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Holton's comments were made in response to Dutta, who said that "the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are remarkable documents" and that socialism and communism are incompatible with democracy. Holton said Dutta's remarks made her "uncomfortable."
On Fox and Friends First on Thursday, Dutta called herself "a proud immigrant" who believes the United States is "the best country in the world" while criticizing Virginia Democrats who opposed her appointment.
"I believe that our children should be taught about the Founding Fathers and founding documents," Dutta said. "It's mind-boggling to me how anybody growing up in this country wouldn't learn about it. The only thing I can think of is that they truly don't believe that America is something to be proud of."
Dutta is co-founder of the Coalition for TJ, a group of parents at Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, that have opposed efforts at the magnet school to modify admissions practices.
The effort to oust Dutta was led by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D), who said it was "critically important that we appoint individuals to this particular board who are determined and focused on the opportunity to bring equity to bring resources and to uphold the promise of public education for every child in the Commonwealth."
"When blatant lies and mistruths and smears are peddled on the floor of the state Senate by Sen. Hashmi and that not a single Democratic senator questions an ordinary citizen so cheaply smeared, it makes one wonder," Dutta said. "This is a pattern that we parents have been noticing, standing up for, advocating for our children, that it's only one side of the aisle, the Republican side, that we have had any support over the last few years."
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Youngkin blasted the state Senate's rejection of Dutta's appointment as an "appalling show of partisanship" in a statement shortly after Tuesday's vote.
"They voted to remove Suparna Dutta, shockingly claiming that a public school parent isn’t qualified to serve on the Board of Education," Youngkin said. "She is a mother and advocate for parents' rights, she is an immigrant and an advocate for Asian American rights, she is an engineer and advocate for STEM in education. She is not only qualified, she epitomizes parental involvement in our schools, and we need her voice on our board of education. Democrats are repeating loudly their clear beliefs: Parents don’t matter, criminals first, victims last, and petty politics above Virginia’s best interests. It’s shameful. Virginians deserve so much better."