Michele Morrow can’t be trusted to uphold the Constitution, opponent Mo Green charges
Mo Green, the Democratic state superintendent nominee, charges that his GOP opponent, Michele Morrow, can’t be trusted to uphold the Constitution after a newly surfaced video shows her encouraging then-President Donald Trump to use the military to stay in power.
Morrow, the Republican nominee for state superintendent of public instruction, urged Trump in a Jan. 6, 2021, video to invoke a federal law that she said “completely puts the Constitution to the side, and says, now, the military rules all.” The video was first reported by CNN, which published it Friday evening.
Morrow protested outside the U.S. Capitol earlier on Jan. 6. But she has said she didn’t enter the building.
“Taking your children to the attempted insurrection on January 6th, calling for a military coup in our own country, and advocating for the public execution of elected officials, including Presidents Biden and Obama and Governor Cooper, are dangerous examples to set for our students,” Green said in a statement Monday. “Nobody who promotes this type of violence should be allowed to run our public schools.”
In social media posts over the weekend, Green also called Morrow “an election denier who calls for a military coup” and a person who “advocated for a military coup.”
In a statement to The News & Observer on Saturday, Morrow’s campaign said she is focused on the race to run North Carolina’s public schools. The campaign didn’t address the video, but it slammed CNN for what it called “gaslighting the public” about her.
“CNN has a long history of lying about President Donald Trump and continually gaslighting the public about Michele Morrow,” the campaign said. “Morrow is a patriot and a watchdog against liberal attacks on our country. CNN, liberal extremists, and her opponent spend more time on character assassination than on securing the border, ensuring a fair and free election, or school reform. Morrow is focused on empowering parents and driving woke indoctrination out of the classroom and not on embracing liberal lies and bias.”
Morrow’s history of controversial comments
Morrow, a registered nurse, conservative activist and homeschool parent, defeated incumbent Superintendent Catherine Truitt in the GOP primary in March. Morrow’s victory was a major upset, because she managed to overcome Truitt’s major fundraising advantage and endorsements from several top Republican state lawmakers.
She is running against Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools. He is the former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a group that funds progressive causes.
The superintendent’s race has drawn national attention because of scrutiny of Morrow’s past social media posts, including those that talked about killing President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democrats.
Morrow has since deleted those social media posts. She has previously accused the media of “trying to create ‘gotcha moments’ out of old comments taken out of context, made in jest, or never made in the first place.”
Morrow blames ‘liberal media’
In the newly surfaced video, Morrow said that Trump had the ability while he was president, in the final days of his term before it ended on Jan. 20, 2021, to take action to keep himself in power.
“President Trump is still president, until the 20th. So, he can still invoke the executive order against voter fraud. And now, he has every player that participated in his sights, and they can all be arrested for treason,” Morrow said in the video. “And if the police won’t do it, and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then he will have to enact the Insurrection Act, in which case, the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side, and says, now, the military rules all.”
Morrow has responded to the news coverage of the video by attacking the media.
“The liberal media is at it again,” Morrow posted Saturday on X. “Just like they have done with @donaldtrump they will make up and twist anything to stop our momentum on the campaign.
“It is not lost on the serious American voter that the same party who celebrates open borders, sexual perversion, forced jabs, men in womens sports and has selected a Presidential candidate without ONE SINGLE DELEGATE backing her is going to lecture US about democracy and safety!”
But Green contends that “the very soul of our public education system, and the future of our state, is on the ballot this November.”
“Her dangerous brand of political violence will harm our schools, our children and hurt our state’s economy,” Green said in his statement. “How can someone who called to set the United States Constitution aside swear an oath and be trusted to uphold that constitution if elected?”
This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Michele Morrow can’t be trusted to uphold the Constitution, opponent Mo Green charges."
