Lyin’ Ryan Walters held a press conference on Tuesday to address the State Board of Education executive session porn controversy. During his remarks, Walters:
1. Repeatedly and haughtily scolded news media for covering the story, stating that this is why the people no longer trust the press. In doing so, he dodged the greater likelihood that the public are losing their trust in him, to extent it ever existed.
3. Brazenly implied that Gov. Kevin Stitt and board members are in cahoots in “a coordinated attack” to smear Walters and distract from his accomplishments. The governor’s office in turn released a statement signed by three members of the Board of Education, including the two who reported seeing the nude images on Walters’ TV set during last week’s executive session. Their statement said, “We all want the best education for our students, not inflamed political rhetoric. No board member has accused Superintendent Walters of anything, we only brought attention to inappropriate content on a TV – content that would cause a teacher in our state to lose their license.” Walters called on these board members to resign and for the governor “to answer the questions” about his role in Walters’ conspiracy theory.
4. Blatantly lied, stating that he has already been cleared of any wrong-doing by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services [OMES] and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s office. This is not true. OMES described its investigation as limited to technical information about Walters’ office television set: its settings, streaming capacity, wifi and DVD connectivity, and the like. OMES provided its findings on these issues only in a report to state lawmakers. According to its report, “The TV [in Walters’ office] had cable access, streaming services, was connected to an empty DVD player and was equipped with a dipole antenna.” It also stated that the TV’s history cache “was empty” and that a password is required to stream online content on the TV from another device. This captures the extent of their examination of Walters’ office television, which drew zero conclusions about Walters’ culpability. For its part, the sheriff’s office confirmed that their investigation remains in its “infancy.” As The Oklahoman reported, “no one has been cleared of wrongdoing,” according to the sheriff’s spokesperson.
5. Threatened revenge against those behind this “coordinated attack,” repeatedly declaring “there will be consequences” for board members, members of the press, and anyone else involved in this conspiracy against him. “These board members have constructed a lie to destroy character,” Walters spat, including the governor, teachers’ unions, and news media on the list of those who are attempting to “assassinate my character.” He added that “those individuals … will be hearing from us and all Oklahomans very, very soon.”
It was an angry and not particularly slick performance. Walters’ tactics were tiresome and all too familiar. Go down the list: distorting the nature of the complaint; blaming the media; attempting to deflect by hurling wild accusations of political persecution; falsely claiming exoneration; portraying the scandal as a witch hunt; making vague threats of payback for everyone expressing concerns about pornography being seen in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction during a board meeting.
In short, Trump Lite …
Heavy on the Lite.
For additional Kevin Acers commentary on the Executive Session controversy, see What Will Ryan Walters Do Next?
