America’s largest labor union is launching a campaign on Monday tying Donald Trump to a rise in bullying at the nation’s schools, according to a new report.
The National Education Association (NEA) will make its case through ads and mailings in battleground states, The Washington Post said Monday.
{mosads}“We are going to do everything humanly possible to make sure that we have a president who will be a good role model for children,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said.
“Donald Trump is not on that list, but Hillary Clinton is,” added Eskelsen Garcia, whose organization backs Clinton, the Democratic nominee.
“He’s one of two people in the world who will be the next president of the United States, and every time he opens his mouth he insults someone. He degrades someone because of their race, their religion, their weight.”
The NEA campaign coincides with National Bullying Prevention Month in October, which the union typically gets involved with.
Eskelsen Garcia said the organization’s members are reporting children are threatening classmates Trump may deport them or calling them terrorists instead.
“Kids feel like they have been given permission, and they are invoking the name of Donald Trump,” she said.
“What we’re seeing is not something that will go away after Election Day. We’re seeing millions of people who seem attracted to this message, and those folks are still going to be here.”
The Post said the NEA is launching its campaign by holding calls and news conferences with teachers, principals and psychologists starting Monday. Participants will link Trump’s comments on the national stage to an increase in bullying in classrooms across the U.S.
The NEA also plans to support the Clinton campaign’s ground game with canvassing, phone banks and both digital and mail ads targeting voters.
The effort will target voters in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
It will also affect Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, the Post added, as well as Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.
Eskelsen Garcia said the NEA boasts more than 3 million members and could reach some 6.4 million voters.
The group is not the only education union that sees ties between Trump and a rise in school bullying nationwide.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers (ATF), which also supports Clinton, said in May Trump is promoting a “climate of bullying” in schools.