President Trump continued his criticism of US schools Friday as liberally biased and added a threat to remove their tax-exempt status. "Too many Universities and School Systems are about Radical Left Indoctrination, not Education," he tweeted. Trump said he has ordered the Treasury Department to review their tax-exempt status or funding and added it would be "taken away if this Propaganda or Act Against Public Policy continues." His parting shot: "Our children must be Educated, not Indoctrinated!" It wasn't immediately clear whether Trump was referring to public as well as private K-12 schools and colleges, notes CNBC. Most private and public colleges and universities are tax-exempt.
The Hill points out a potential problem: It would be the IRS that would conduct any such review, but the agency is forbidden by law from targeting groups "based on their ideological beliefs." Over the July 4th weekend, Trump sounded a similar theme: "Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes but ... villains,” he said, per the Washington Post. More recently, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that don't fully open in the fall. (More President Trump stories.)