Watch: Minnesota Democrat Jeffrey Ettinger Says CRT Is ‘Made Up,’ ‘Not Taught in Schools’

Former CEO of Hormel Jeffrey Ettinger, running as a Democrat in a special election in Minnesota’s First Congressional District to replace Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn after his death, said that critical race theory (CRT) is “made up” and “not taught in schools.”

“In terms of the Republican attacks on curriculum, in my opinion, this whole thing with critical race theory is a made-up issue that is not taught anywhere in K through 12 school that I’m aware of,” Ettinger claimed during a Democrat Candidate Forum at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota, last week.

Ettinger added that he has “trust” in teachers to teach sensitive subjects. He also stressed that schools need to “teach about slavery, and Native American history, and the Civil Rights Movement and all things that are important to understand about our country.”

Watch: 

However, despite what Ettinger believes, Breitbart News has reported on the countless instances of race-essentialist ideology being taught in America’s schools, including in his own state.

Last summer, in Minnesota, roughly 100 teachers signed a “Pledge to Teach the Truth” from the Zinn Education Project that vowed to “continue our commitment” to teach CRT in solidarity against Republican lawmakers’ efforts to stop them, Alpha News reported.

In August, Education Minnesota, the largest teachers union in the state, reportedly published a document to advise educators to respond to “politically motivated attacks on racial equity in schools” and talks specifically about CRT.

The document specifically said to “avoid” the term “critical race theory” because it “has been redefined by the political right as an all-purpose racial dog whistle.” It also included sample narratives.

And in September, Fox9 reported that Minnesota’s Intermediate District 287, a consortium of 11 school districts in the state, used the theory when it implemented an update to its policy guides to fix inequities in the classroom.

The special election will have a May 24 primary and, if needed, a general election on August 9. The special election is to fill the remainder of Hagedorn’s term, which would have ended in January 2023.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.