‘Do You Even Know History?’: Pompeo Mocked for Claiming It’s ‘Dangerous’ to Teach America’s Founding Was ‘Racist’

Mike Pompeo is being roundly ridiculed after issuing a warning apparently about Critical Race Theory. The 57-year old Christian nationalist, former Trump Secretary of State, and likely 2024 Republican presidential hopeful has been trying to frame himself as the logical successor to Donald Trump. When that didn’t work he swung to his comfort zone of being a hard core Christian conservative.

“If we teach that the founding of the United States of America was somehow flawed. It was corrupt. It was racist. That’s really dangerous. It strikes at the very foundations of our country,” an alarmed Pompeo decreed – forever cementing himself as an authoritarian propagandist.

Many on social media are mocking him, because there’s no question that the founding of the United States was flawed and racist. The only question then is, how do we make it better?

Pompeo still believes that part.

— stay positive-test negative (@t2meg) July 7, 2021

Former Secretary of State argues that slavery was not flawed, corrupt or racist. https://t.co/NTlbJFuVzh

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 7, 2021

It was flawed. It was corrupt. It was racist. If we deny our past and omit it from our education we will never realize the promise of what we can be, and heal the wounds that divide us.

— Howard Jackson (@HoJack214) July 5, 2021

The Founders themselves thought—and said!—that their founding was in some ways flawed. They argued after 1789 as before. They worried, even agonized, about compromises they’d had to make facing circumstances they hadn’t chosen. The founders were serious people. Trumpists aren’t. https://t.co/fYNnc4MiBS

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 7, 2021

The founding document of our government was so inadequate those founders amended it 10 times as soon as it was ratified. It’s been amended 17 additional times since then to correct flaws (well, 15 times, Prohibition is an outlier). Do you even know American history?

— William F Tulloch 🏳️‍🌈 (@CPTDoomDC) July 7, 2021

Yes the founding of our nation via mass genocide and continued enslavement was flawless. No notes. https://t.co/SBKKkQVwkh

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 7, 2021

I still like “Run To The Hills” by Iron Maiden tho

“White man came across the sea
He brought us pain and misery
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed
He took our game for his own need…”🎶

— Sec. of Swagger (@CancelSec) July 5, 2021

18% of Americans were enslaved by another American at the first census in 1790, one in six of us.

There is nothing dangerous or anti-American in knowing, learning, or teaching that.

— Corbly, Jon (@Corb_The_Lesser) July 6, 2021

America was so perfect from day one we only had to amended our constitution over two dozen times and, oh yeah, that civil war thing. Who are these people kidding with this shit? https://t.co/WPgXYPmhLa

— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) July 7, 2021

Bold move to come out against all of the amendments, but ok https://t.co/bfZCAdD0cV

— Pwn All The Things (@pwnallthethings) July 7, 2021

The Founding was flawed, that’s why there’s 27 amendments and thousands of SCOTUS precedents to clarify constitutional ambiguity. The Founding was racist; there was slavery, landed white male only suffrage, and a 3/5ths clause.

It’s a country, not a cult. Get over it, Mike.

— nate bowling (collecting vaccines like Thanos) (@nate_bowling) July 7, 2021

Anyway the *founders* knew the founding was flawed and we know that because they left us their conflicted thoughts on slavery for posterity. An ostensibly patriotic person would know this, a nationalist in the Orwellian sense would deny it or refuse to even learn.

— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) July 7, 2021

should hear what christianity teaches about the first human beings https://t.co/yJDneiyc84

— elizabeth bruenig (@ebruenig) July 7, 2021

they owned slaves you stupid fuck

— mike ferguson (@Mik3Ferguson) July 7, 2021

I feel like we can admit there were some flaws and still survive as a country https://t.co/VdCsuP0Wxl

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) July 7, 2021

Tell me you know almost nothing about American history without saying you know almost nothing about American history. https://t.co/MsSgYgFOUB

— Rep. Steven Woodrow (@WoodrowForCO) July 7, 2021

The infallibility of Scripture. https://t.co/ngZfBEalTD

— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) July 7, 2021