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Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters; United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon
The Trump cabinet official's representatives asked state officials to keep Ryan Walters, the firebrand schools chief, off her schedule.
President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon didn’t want Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters anywhere near her when she toured a charter school in Oklahoma City this week.
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According to Notus, McMahon’s team asked state officials to leave Walters off the schedule for her Returning Education to the States Tour, fearing his presence would be a distraction. Instead, she appeared alongside Gov. Kevin Stitt and other Republicans. Walters, the face of Oklahoma’s far-right education crusade, was left out.
Related: Far-right Oklahoma schools head Ryan Walters had nude women on TV during meeting: report
The move followed Walters’s false claim that the Trump administration had approved his plan to eliminate statewide end-of-year testing. On a right-wing outlet earlier this month, Walters bragged, “We went to the Trump administration and they said they were all for it,” Notus reports.
That wasn’t true. McMahon publicly corrected him, telling reporters the waiver “has not gone through all the different steps that it needs to.” Asked whether she’d meet Walters during her visit, she shot back: “I don’t believe that’s on my schedule today.”
Walters has used his office to impose culture-war priorities on schools, often targeting LGBTQ+ students. He mandated Bible instruction, banned recognition of transgender and nonbinary students, and recently rolled out a PragerU “anti-woke” test for teachers moving in from blue states.
He also appointed right-wing extremist Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik to the state’s library advisory committee, despite her lack of educational experience and her history of sparking bomb threats against schools she targets online, through employing tactics experts call stochastic terrorism.
Related: Oklahoma appoints Libs of TikTok creator - who allegedly inspired school bomb threats - to library committee
After the February 2024 death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict, a trans student who died by suicide after being bullied, Walters refused to acknowledge their gender identity. More than 350 LGBTQ+ groups signed a letter demanding his removal, accusing him of creating “a climate of hate and bigotry.” Chasten Buttigieg later blasted Walters at a Human Rights Campaign panel, saying Oklahomans should feel “embarrassed” by his leadership.
Walters’s tenure has been riddled with scandal. At a July board meeting, explicit images appeared on a TV in his office. While a legislative report said it was likely accidental, new records reported by Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV show Walters’s agency sought to hire a $100,000 criminal defense lawyer to prepare for possible charges. The request was later withdrawn.
Related: Oklahoma Republicans call for impeachment investigation into extremist superintendent Ryan Walters
Lawmakers have previously launched an impeachment inquiry into his leadership, citing budget mismanagement and abuse of power.
Despite it all, Walters is widely expected to run for governor in 2026, staking out the MAGA lane against Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former House Speaker Charles McCall, both of whom joined McMahon on her school tour, according to Notus.
For now, the optics are undeniable: Walters, once eager to brand himself as the GOP’s culture-war champion, was shut out by Trump’s own education secretary. It’s a signal that even within the MAGA movement, Walters’s brand of extremism may finally be too toxic to stand next to.
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