A labor union president’s ravings to “win all the things” scored her a consensus that a particular character from “The Office” was her “speech coach.”
(Video Credit: NEA)
Whether drawing inspiration from the long-running sitcom or President Joe Biden’s own infamously divisive 2022 Independence Hall speech, National Education Association President Becky Pringle found some fascistic flair of her own in Philadelphia Thursday.
Addressing the NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in the City of Brotherly Love on Independence Day, flailing arms, lectern slamming and a generally “unhinged” presentation brought to mind an acceptance speech by Rainn Wilson’s character, Dwight Schrute.
“We are the ones who help shape the heart of this nation’s hope and dreams. We are the ones who hold steadfast to the belief in the plausibility of the possible,” Pringle wound down after nearly a half-hour of ranting on social justice and DEI. “We are the heirs of all who did this work before us. We must keep going. NEA delegates, we can do this work. We must do this work. We get to do this work. We will do this work because our students are depending on us to win all the things.”
“NEA we have to win all the things! All the things! All the things!” she raved to applause from those gathered.
It was a short walk to find the similarities between Pringle’s address and Schrute’s acceptance speech from the second season of “The Office,” which itself had been inspired by 20th-century Italian dictator Benito Mussolini according to the creators.
“Blood alone moves the wheels of history!” the character said to his fellow fictional salesman of Northeast Pennsylvania. “It has been a lifetime struggle. A never-ending fight. I say to you, and you will understand, that it is a privilege to fight! We are warriors!
Reacting to the speech and including his own reference to Schrute, Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow with the American Federation for Children told Fox News Digital, “These power-hungry control freaks think they own your kids. They’re in a cult that worships government and detests parents. It’s time to defund teachers’ unions and allow the money to follow the child.”
“Becky Pringle pulled a Dwight Schrute. She is off-the-rails and desperate to maintain control over the minds of other people’s children,” he went on as Heritage Foundation research fellow Jason Bedrick asserted, “Her overwrought, hyper-partisan tirade amounted to an advertisement for school choice.”
The comparison was well-met on social media as users reacted in kind and included GIFs that matched the energy Pringle was putting out during her speech.
https://t.co/LUe0d4SgJn pic.twitter.com/3Vd6fFFcF0
— Shawn (@ShawnLivingLife) July 8, 2024
EXACTLY!!! My first thought watching this was she took her speech cues from watching *The Office*.
— James Taglienti (@iamthe12thman) July 8, 2024
Totally unhinged. I hope she’s not a part of an organization that has a lot of contact with children.
— Jason Bedrick ️ (@JasonBedrick) July 7, 2024
Corrupt & completely insane is quite the combination
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) July 7, 2024
Elsewhere in her speech, Pringle took aim at former President Donald Trump with heavy-handed rhetoric about tyranny as she peddled equity, “To unite not just our members, but the nation to reclaim public education as a common good, as the foundation of our democracy, and then transform it into something it was never designed to be–a racially and socially just and equitable system.”
“We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House, but the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate,” she went on as other users chimed in, “She is very passionate on keeping children from learning and destroying their innocence.”
Bedrick went on to tell Fox News Digital, “Even Pringle’s over-the-top, Dwight Schrute-like theatrics can’t distract from her union’s role in the dismal state of education in this country, from keeping schools closed for far too long during COVID, to shielding bad teachers from accountability–all at the expense of students’ learning.”
She is very passionate on keeping children from learning and destroying their innocence
— John Martinlives (@JohnMar05239136) July 7, 2024
“All the things” means they want control of teacher prep, curriculum, standards, accountability, facilities, funding, governance, forced public enrollment, and the rest.
The easiest way to impose Marxism is to raise Marxists. We are STILL “A Nation at Risk.”
— Alan Endicott (@AlanEndicott) July 7, 2024
She is going to be the first one with a nervous breakdown when Trump wins
— Xxarna Z (@xxenna66) July 8, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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