Bill Maher offered surprise support for President Trump’s controversial policy to scrap the Department of Education.
The talk show host cited shockingly poor education statistics among America’s children as he conceded that dismantling the department may be the best solution.
‘It’s not like the kids are getting smarter,’ he said.
‘I mean, the numbers keep getting worse and worse and worse. And I don’t know if the Department of Education… I don’t know what it does, except take money. It’s sort of a middleman.’
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a close Trump ally and one of Maher’s guests on his show Friday, added that the department ‘has to essentially be closed’.
‘A lot of the authority has to be sent back to the states,’ Donalds said.
‘The dollars we appropriate have to actually get into the hands of parents, so they can use those resources in their states and in their communities to find the best outcomes for their children.’
It comes as the Trump administration has begun preparing an executive order to scrap the Department of Education, as part of his Elon Musk-driven campaign to massively shrink the size of the federal government.
Bill Maher offered surprise support for President Trump’s controversial policy to scrap the Department of Education on his show on Friday
Donalds said his support for Trump’s plan to ax the department is due to shockingly poor educational standards among American children.
‘When the department of education was created in 1977, our reading scores and math scores for kids fourth and eighth grade were higher than they are today,’ he said.
‘So, it’s not worked.’
Maher then slated former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s criticism of the removal of the department.
‘Rahm Emanuel, who I agree with on almost everything here, had a quote. He said, ‘A third of eighth graders can’t read, and now he wants to close the department?’ And I thought, that’s probably why they can’t read, or at least partly,’ Maher said.
‘I mean, the numbers keep getting worse and worse and worse.’
Maher referenced the Michigan teacher’s union contract as an example of overreach, which includes teachers only being fired for being caught drunk on the job after their eighth citation.
According to nationwide data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reported last week by the Associated Press, a growing number of American children lack simple reading and math skills.
One third of eighth grade students scored below a ‘basic’ reading level, meaning they were unable to make a simple inference about a character’s motivation after reading a short story, and some were unable to identify that the word ‘industrious’ means ‘to be hard working.’
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds said he supports the dismantling of the Department of Education, saying statistics show it ‘hasn’t worked’
It comes as the Trump administration has begun preparing an executive order to scrap the Department of Education and turn much of its authority back to the states
The data follows a downward trend since the Covid-19 pandemic, as experts say US schools are rife with chronic absenteeism and poor mental health among teens.
The under-fire Department of Education described the findings as ‘heartbreaking’, and said the results were the effect of failing education standards nationwide.
‘The Trump Administration is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning, and provide universal access to high-quality instruction,’ the department said in a statement.
‘Change must happen, and it must happen now.’
Republican Congressman Tim Walberg, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the decline is ‘clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn.’
Maher’s discussion with Donalds and Puck News reporter Tara Palmeri moved to the upcoming Super Bowl game, which President Trump will attend as the first sitting president ever to do so.
The late-night host supported the NFL’s decision to remove the ‘end racism’ signs from the stadium, which had been a fixture of games for several years as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘It was stupid to begin with,’ Maher said.
‘But let me ask you, who is it for? And if you’re a racist and you see “End Racism” in the end zone, you’re gonna stop being a racist?’
Palmeri responded: ‘But the sentiment is basically like, don’t be an a**hole.’
‘But I think it’s an a**hole to nag us during a football game about something that doesn’t change anything,’ Maher said.
‘If I’m not a racist and I see it, it doesn’t matter. And if I am a racist, it’s gonna make me more of a racist.’
Donalds added: ‘Look, I think if you write “Don’t be an a**hole” in the end zone, everybody will agree with that.’
