Trump never lets facts get in the way of his political stunts. That explains the Pied Piper-style histrionics he staged at yesterday’s signing of an executive order to “dismantle” the Department of Education.
Most notably, he used children as unwitting extras in his latest act of performative cruelty. These keyboard-native kids looked utterly bemused as they sat in a mock classroom in the ceremonial East Room. Because stagehands were clearly coaxing them to pretend they were writing with pen and paper — just to play along with Trump’s stunt.
The stunt director clearly wanted them to feel at home as Trump signed away their educational resources. What came to mind as I watched wasn’t patriotism. It was a Russian commander forcing Ukrainian children to watch him rape their mother before shipping them off to be Putinized.
Meanwhile, everyone knows this executive order will not, and cannot, dismantle the Department of Education. That requires congressional approval. Trump doesn’t have it, won’t get it, but couldn’t care less.
His “stable genius” is pretending his political illusion is real. He leaves the fallout to aides. In this case, the impossible task of vanishing an entire federal department falls to Linda McMahon. Yes, the former WWE executive turned education secretary in Trump’s Bizarro Cabinet of billionaire hucksters and shysters. Which makes her perfectly cast to play the lead in this fake drama.
“I hope she’s the last education secretary,” Trump said, grinning like a kid who thinks pulling the fire alarm counts as putting out the fire.
Mind you, the federal government doesn’t control of public education. States set curriculums, learning standards, reading lists, and extracurriculars. The Department of Education mostly funds school meals, student loans, and teachers in hard-to-staff districts. In other words, this order won’t improve education — it’ll just strip resources from low-income, rural, and disabled students who need them most.
That’s why this stunt isn’t just meaningless. It’s mean. Like so much of Trump’s performative politics, the cruelty is the point.