Tennessee conservatives have lambasted education journalist and author Christopher Rufo for the support he expressed for Penny Schwinn, the former Tennessee Education Commissioner who was controversially nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Education last week.
After meeting with Schwinn, Rufo wrote in a Tuesday post to the social media platform X that the former Tennessee official provided sufficient answers to the allegation she allowed sexually explicit material to remain in school libraries and supported “wellbeing checks” for all Tennessee students.
In Rufo’s reporting, Schwinn claimed there were never sexually explicit materials in schools despite Tennessee school boards continuing to remove titles after her departure.
Rufo also reported that Schwinn’s support for “wellbeing checks” was falsely included in a document by a staffer, but did not explain why she stated a 2020 Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) press release, “Since we know many children have experienced adversity due to the pandemic, child wellbeing checks are a deliberate way all stakeholders in the community can help ensure the needs of our children are met.”
Multiple Tennessee conservatives and pundits replied to Rufo’s post, with some expressing doubt that the Florida-based writer could know more about Schwinn’s tenure than citizens of Tennessee.