The man in charge of education under the Barack Obama administration set social media on fire Sunday with a blazing remark he made that equated suicide bombers at the Kabul airport to anti-maskers and those who oppose getting vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.
Arne Duncan served in the Obama administration for seven years after serving as the CEO of Chicago’s school system prior to that. Duncan was all A’s on Sunday, and his tweet had nothing to do with alphabets or algebra. It was anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and Afghan terrorists against Americans.
Here’s what Duncan tweeted:
Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions are between the suicide bombers at Kabul’s airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here?
They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom.— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) August 29, 2021
“Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions between the suicide bombers at Kabul’s airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here?” Duncan wrote. “They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom.”
Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images
Duncan’s comments came shortly before President Joe Biden, the first lady and other White House officials were on hand for the return of 13 U.S. service members killed in a terrorist suicide blast last week at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
Most comments on Duncan’s tweet were rather unflattering, including this one.
“On the day that President Biden met the caskets containing the fallen soldiers who were victims of suicide bombers, I can’t imagine a more inappropriate Tweet from former Education Secretary @arneduncan,” this one responded. “There’s no comparison between non-masking, non-vaxxing & terrorism. Shame.”
One Twitter follower who calls himself a “former marine” told Duncan to delete his account.
“Delete your account, now, you shameless, soulless ghoul. I’m a pro-mask, pro-vaccine conservative – by personal choice because of my lung damage from Iraq, not by mandate – and you literally SUCK at this thing called being a human being.”
Another educator called Duncan’d remarks shameful.
“On the day that President Biden met the caskets containing the fallen soldiers who were victims of suicide bombers, I can’t imagine a more inappropriate Tweet from former Education Secretary@arneduncan,” Joel Petlin wrote. “There’s no comparison between non-masking, non-vaxxing & terrorism. Shame.”
On the day that President Biden met the caskets containing the fallen soldiers who were victims of suicide bombers, I can’t imagine a more inappropriate Tweet from former Education Secretary @arneduncan
There’s no comparison between non-masking, non-vaxxing & terrorism.
Shame.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) August 29, 2021
The president and first lady, and other dignitaries, were on hand to pay respects to the 13 military service members who were killed in last week’s blast. Among them were 12 marines and one navy medic.
This came on the same day that Hurricane Ida crushed the Louisiana coast as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, ripping apart roofs and uprooting trees while causing catastrophic flooding.
By 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, more than 800,000 people lost power, all while the storm still churned as a Category 3 storm packing 115 mph winds while moving inland.
