A Breitbart article claiming Republican House Speaker [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore] is a hypocrite because he sends his kids to Catholic school has earned the organization incredulous mocking. Now the publication is trying to explain how the article was not anti-Catholic.
Breitbart published a piece attempting to point out hypocrisy in Ryan because he does not support a “religious test” policy that would ban Muslim immigration, yet sends his kids to a Catholic school where parishioners in good standing get a discount. The article equates the school’s discount for parishioners with the “religious test” policy Ryan opposes. Breitbart argues that by favoring parishioners, the school is disfavoring Muslims, which is like the U.S. banning Muslims.
It turns out this “religious test” for the Catholic school is not even an exclusionary box you have to check. A person of any religion could attend the school, and Catholic schools around the country accept students who are not Catholic.
While Muslim students could presumably get into Ryan’s school, the school’s reliance on the parish as a recruiting center and the above-cost tuition fees would, by definition, function as a mechanism for screening them out. When Breitbart News spoke to a school representative about the school’s religious diversity, the representative said that no student currently enrolled wears a headscarf, even as Paul Ryan’s migration policies increasingly introduce this new element into other families’ schools.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the article “strains credulity” and that “the mind boggles when you read this kind of nonsense.”
“I take Breitbart seriously … but every now and then you find an article that kind of rocks you,” he said. “Why did they even bother to publish this tripe?”
“If I worked at Breitbart, I would just take the post down because of its stupidity,” he added. “It makes you say, what the hell is wrong with the people over at Breitbart for publishing this trash? This is silliness on steroids.”
Adam Cassandra, editor at the Cardinal Newman Society, attacked the article on Twitter, adding in a statement to TheDCNF:
It’s not really a fair comparison to draw a line between a Catholic school’s admission policies and the U.S. government’s immigration policy. Those are two entities that have entirely different missions and purposes. Catholic schools have a primary mission of evangelization and teaching the Catholic faith, so it’s entirely appropriate that they primarily serve Catholic families. But students of any faith who accept the Catholic identity of the school are welcomed into Catholic schools across the country.
John Zmirak of Breitbart wrote an article defending the anti-Ryan piece Thursday. He boasted about his years attending Catholic school before doubling down on the argument that there is a legitimate double standard at work.
“Conservatives routinely hold liberal politicians’ feet to the fire, when we learn that some Democrat champion of Common Core and rotten teachers’ unions protects his kids from the outcome of his policies by sending them to some elite Quaker or Waldorf academy that costs more than most voters earn each year,” he wrote. “It is perfectly fair in principle to do the same to neoconservatives like Paul Ryan, whose kids won’t be subjected to public-school multiculturalism alongside Somali “refugees.” Just because the school in question is Catholic doesn’t mean that he gets a free pass.”
The Washington Free Beacon mocked the original article, writing a story with the headline: “BREAKING: Breitbart Reveals Catholic Sends Son To Catholic School.” The Free Beacon sarcastically pointed out the “scoopage, tho’.”
“Where else in America can you find cutting-edge analysis of how Catholic parishes in this country discriminate by discounting the tuition of people who have already given them money?” the Free Beacon wrote.
Alex Griswold at Mediaite mocked the Breitbart piece as well, saying there’s not an “ounce of truth” to the idea that the school screens out Muslims.
“At no point did Brietbart consider that maybe Muslims are the discriminating ones, and that they aren’t particularly keen on enrolling their kids in a school that actively contradicts their faith in the first place,” Griswold wrote. “At no point did they consider that moderate Muslims and male Muslims don’t wear headscarves. And let’s not brush over that last part: a reporter actually called Paul Ryan’s kids’ school to ask someone if there were little kids running around with hijabs, and at no point did they elect to reexamine their life decisions.”
Griswold proceeded to point out “more silliness.”
“I can’t believe I have to spell this out, but maybe Ryan believes that his kids’ CATHOLIC school should be allowed to use a religious test because it’s CATHOLIC,” Griswold wrote. “Maybe he thinks it would be wholly inappropriate for a U.S. government with no established religion to do so. Maybe he thinks there’s no comparing admissions for a small private school with plentiful public alternatives with denying people trying to flee a civil war-torn hellscape. Maybe he’s capable of independent thought.”
The reporter of the story and a Breitbart executive did not respond to request for comment.
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