When Morrow ran for school board in 2022, she referred to public schools as ‘indoctrination centers.’ Now she wants to control North Carolina’s education system as state superintendent.

She has never worked in a public school and has referred to them as “indoctrination centers.” She attended the riot at the U.S. Capitol and called for former President Donald Trump to use military force to stay in power. She has been known to use hashtags affiliated with the conspiracy theory QAnon.

Yet after defeating the incumbent in a Super Tuesday primary, Michele Morrow is the Republican nominee for North Carolina superintendent. Morrow will be running against Democrat Maurice (Mo) Green.

If elected, she would be responsible for a $12 billion budget, 115 school districts and 1.36 million public school students. Concern around her campaign has grown since she became the party’s nominee.

“We believe that Morrow is uniquely unqualified for this position to serve public school students and educators across the state,” Tamika Walker Kelly, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, told me.

I wanted to talk to Morrow more about her stances and thoughts on public education. After interviewing her, I worry about what it would mean for my home state of North Carolina – and the country, more broadly – if she were elected. Her rise in prominence is running parallel to parents’ rights movements across the country that threaten to destroy public education.

The lie that public schools are ‘indoctrination centers’

When Morrow ran for Wake County’s school board in 2022, she referred to public schools as “socialism centers” and “indoctrination centers.” Her own five children have attended public and private schools in other states, but have been homeschooled since moving to North Carolina. At one point, she told people not to send their children to public schools.

Morrow told me she stood by her claim that schools were indoctrinating children.

“Children believe any adult that is put in front of them,” Morrow told me. “And if we are telling children to be divided by the color of their skin, if we are putting politics into the classroom, if we are discussing the fact that they might be in the wrong body and that the United States is inherently racist, and that socialism is the answer for America and that capitalism is a threat to the entire world, then that is indoctrination, it is lies, and it needs to stop.”

As someone who went through the North Carolina public school system, I can assure you that I saw no brainwashing occurring. If you don’t believe me, a task force spearheaded by the lieutenant governor, conservative firebrand Mark Robinson, failed to find compelling evidence of indoctrination.

What Morrow and other Republicans don’t realize is that they are the ones putting politics in the classroom.

They brought politics into the classroom in 2021 when they began complaining at school board meetings over masking in schools. It continued with the claims that “critical race theory” is being taught and has culminated in actual legislation like the Parents Bill of Rights across the country or the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.

Before Republicans started complaining about these things, I had never known North Carolina public schools to be political battlegrounds.

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Concerning social media posts about assassinating Obama

Morrow has come under fire for previous social media posts beyond her involvement in Jan. 6, 2021. In 2020, she called for the public execution of former President Barack Obama in a reply on X, previously Twitter.

“I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she tweeted in response to someone suggesting Obama should be sent to Guantanamo Bay.

She has also called for the killing of President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and a handful of other prominent Democrats. Morrow has also repeatedly used the QAnon-associated hashtag WWG1WGA on her personal social media account.

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When asked about the execution posts, Morrow said the they were “hyperbolic” and “rhetorical.”

“It was a sarcastic comment,” Morrow told me. “But the question that was being answered – and there are probably over 100 comments in that thread that they pulled from – was ‘What should happen to these individuals should they be found guilty of treason and crimes against humanity?’ So that was my response.”

I asked if she believed there was reason for Obama to be found guilty of treason, as she previously claimed.

“I am not a judge,” she told me. “I think we have moved on.”

Spoiler alert: There is no known reason Obama or any of the Democrats she targeted would be tried for treason.

Morrow participated in riot at US Capitol

Morrow also attended the Capitol riot that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

In a since-deleted Facebook livestream, Morrow called for the arrest of those who certified the 2020 election results, adding that Trump should have used the military to stay in power.

“If the police won’t do it, and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then he will have to enact the Insurrection Act,” Morrow said at the time. “In which case the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, now the military rules all.”

She denies that she called for a military coup.

“I was calling for certification to go back to the states, because at the time, we wanted it to be investigated,” Morrow said.

I asked Morrow if she believed the 2020 election was stolen.

“Do you believe that the issue for the superintendent is about an election that happened four years ago?” she asked me. When I pressed further, she began talking about noncitizen voting; I never got a firm answer.

Conservative takeover of education

What’s surprising about Morrow’s win against incumbent Catherine Truitt is how similar their ideologies are.

In February, Truitt’s campaign sent out mailers claiming she helped get “woke politics” out of public schools. She also supported conservative policies like the state’s Parents Bill of Rights, a 2023 law making it illegal to talk about gender identity or sexuality in elementary school through fourth grade.

Despite that reality, Morrow advertised herself as being further right than Truitt – and it worked.  

Morrow’s rise to the forefront of the state’s Republican Party is happening in tandem with the ascent of Lt. Gov. Robinson, who is running for the governorship this November. Robinson has endorsed Morrow, saying at a campaign event that “we’re gonna make sure we do everything to get you in office.”

It is also occurring at a time when public schools across the country are being targeted by legislatures, as in Florida and Louisiana.

Her campaign also coincides with Project 2025 and the threat it poses to education across the country. Earlier this week, Trump said in a conversation with Elon Musk that he would close the Department of Education if reelected.

All North Carolina students deserve a quality education. To me, this is why it’s important that the Leandro Plan, a multibillion dollar school funding program that has been stuck in litigation for 30 years, be implemented.

Surprisingly, Morrow seems supportive of the initiative.

“In my role as state Superintendent,” she told me in an email, “I will absolutely advocate on behalf of our students to the General Assembly so that we not only fulfill the requirements of Leandro, but its spirit and with it, the full intent of our state constitution.”

Still, it does not change the fact that Morrow poses a threat to any child who happens to be LGBTQ+. It also does not change the fact that her social media posts are alarming, and are representative of someone who does not respect those who disagree with her.

North Carolina deserves better than Morrow. We all do.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno