On Tuesday, Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC, finally admitted to the scandal in Loudoun County Virginia. The school board is accused of concealing a rape and protecting its transgender policy. What started as an interesting segment featuring Catie Beck, the correspondent of MSNBC quickly degenerated into Ruhle asking why “culture wars” even matter since they are “not even major issues.”
Ruhle was curious about what all the fuss is. Beck had given both sides of debate on bathroom policies a brief soundbite explaining their positions, with one parent accusing Scott Ziegler (superintendent) of hiding the truth. And how have these school board fights become this big part of now a campaign across the state? That’s amazing.
It has become a big part of the campaign because it is easy for parents to worry about their daughters being in the same situation, but unfortunately Beck too went off the rails, portraying the issue as just a GOP political ploy:
You can. And six days until election day, Steph. If you are watching television in Virginia, you are seeing the ads of both of these candidates focused on schools and parental choice. These issues that are surfacing here in Loudoun are certainly becoming a flashpoint in this governor’s race. And we spoke to one political expert who said, specifically, Republicans are zeroing in on these topics. Knowing that they could potentially rev up their base, to galvanize their base, to show up at the polls six day from now.
Following up, Ruhle wondered who really cares about such things: “But how much misinformation ends up out there, right? These culture wars are often wrapped up in getting people fired up over things that aren’t even major issues?”
Ruhle doesn’t seem to believe this. She obviously cares about the transgender rights versus female-only spaces debate, she just takes the other side. She is concerned that her opponent’s arguments are not just hypothetical, and could have an impact on next week’s Virginia gubernatorial elections.
As for Beck’s answer, she concluded by warning: “There certainly is some genuine outrage here in this school district, about the ongoing issues, but, you have to take note, also, that in the parking lot, you are seeing political signs at a school board meeting and that too is unusual so I think it is certainly a combination of multiple things at work here.”
American Express sponsored this segment.
The transcript of the Oct 27th show is available here:
MSNBC
Stephanie Ruhle Reports
9:00 AM ET
STEPHANIE ROHLE: It’s only one county. And how have these school board fights become this big part of now a campaign across the state? That’s amazing.
CATIE BEECK: Yes, it is. And six days until election day, Steph. If you are watching television in Virginia, you are seeing the ads of both of these candidates focused on schools and parental choice. These issues that are surfacing here in Loudoun are certainly becoming a flashpoint in this governor’s race. And we spoke to one political expert who said, specifically, Republicans are zeroing in on these topics. Knowing that they could potentially rev up their base, to galvanize their base, to show up at the polls six day from now. Let’s see what happens. But certainly, both candidates speaking specifically about the Loudoun County incidents at their campaign rallies and in their political ads. What about Steph?
RUHLE: But, but how much misinformation ends up out there, right? These culture wars are often wrapped up in getting people fired up over things that aren’t even major issues?
BECK: Yes. It is, it is hard to dispute, when you see more than a hundred parents come to the microphone last night. There certainly is some genuine outrage here in this school district, about the ongoing issues, but, you have to take note, also, that in the parking lot, you are seeing political signs at a school board meeting and that too is unusual so I think it is certainly a combination of multiple things at work here.
