A Trump-supporting educator who says he’s running again for a seat he once held on the Texas state school board is not having a good week.
After high school senior Drake Johnson posted photos of himself in a Harvard sweatshirt, excitedly announcing he was accepted into the Ivy League university, George Clayton responded via Twitter: “Congrats. Were you admitted on merit or quota?”
Johnson, who The Dallas Morning News in an interview describes as biracial, was unsure how to respond, so he chose the high road.
But the Dallas Morning News report has caused Clayton some problems.
Since the original story came out this past weekend, Clayton’s remarks to Johnson have been reported by over 20 different news outlets. And after several days of being chastised on social media for attacking a hard-working successful high school student, Clayton “apologized.”
“What I said in my remarks was totally wrong and hugely insensitive,” Clayton said – not to Johnson, but to the Dallas Morning News and the Texas Tribune. “My shame hangs heavy in my heart. It was totally out of character for me to make such a hateful comment. I am, of course humbled by my words and sincerely sorry for them.”
That would have been a nice apology if he had sent it to Johnson, and if it were true.
It’s not.
As NCRM was the first to report, Clayton’s attack on high school student Drake Johnson was not his first attack on a person of color headed to a prestigious university.
He unleashed the same attacks on Hannah Ponce (above) who was accepted to Brown, and to Nelly who also was accepted to Brown.
Chelsea was accepted to Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and Vanderbit University.
Clayton’s response to all three was the same “merit or quota?” attack.
Codey Babineaux, who got in to Princeton, got this response from Clayton:
“Were you admitted on merit or on quota regulations? If on merit, great job–congratulations. If on a quota number, work hard, make the best of it and thank the merit applicant you replaced.”
So much for Clayton’s claim that is attack on Johnson was “out of character.”
Clearly, it’s very much in character.
His apology was at best, inaccurate.
And the folks at Twitter may have felt the same way.
As of this writing, George Clayton’s Twitter account comes up as suspended.