A North Carolina fourth-grader submitted a carefully crafted persuasive essay in favor of electric vehicles to his congresswoman as part of a school assignment — and received a scathing response where his work was degraded to “propaganda.”
Christian Mango, 10, penned the letter to Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) on the benefits of e-vehicles, and suggested doling out a $5,000 tax rebate to electric vehicle owners.
“Christian and his class, they wrote a persuasive essay of their choosing. They mailed it off to a representative, a CEO, whoever the decision maker was to be influential in their persuasive essay points,” his mom Emily Mango explained to Fox 8.
The well-meaning student selected Foxx, an 82-year-old Republican who previously chaired the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
“They’re better than normal cars. They’re better for the environment. They pay less. And there’s no gas,” Christian told the outlet.
To the student and his mom’s surprise, Foxx mailed a response on May 1.
In Foxx’s letter, she directed the young student to read six articles “about the disastrous record of policies enacted to address ‘climate change’.”
Two articles were published by the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board and a third was an opinion piece, according to Mango.
Then, the lawmaker warned that Christian and his classmates will be saddled with the national debt crisis by the time they reach their 20s, which had nothing to do with his essay, and accused his teacher of “indoctrinating” him.
“Incidentally, please ask your teacher to explain propaganda to you. While I will never be able to know you, my guess is that your teachers will not give you a good educational experience and help you learn to think as they are too interested in indoctrinating you. How sad,” Foxx wrote.
The tirade ended with an automated plug to subscribe to Foxx’s newsletter and follow her on social media.
Mango said she’s now “embarrassed” to call the 11-term congresswoman her representative.
“She attacked his teachers, his school, his education, and referenced propaganda, indoctrination, and other concepts that a 10-year-old has not been exposed to. This is a totally inappropriate response to one of her youngest constituents,” the mom wrote on Instagram alongside a screenshot of Foxx’s letter.
Christian told the outlet he thought Foxx’s callout was “wrong” since his school “didn’t do anything” to influence his essay’s topic.
“We told our son that is not an okay response. Nobody should talk to a child like that and nobody should talk to a teacher like that. She crossed the line,” Mango added.
Foxx is currently seeking reelection for a whopping 12th term in Congress. She is endorsed by President Trump.
The Post reached out to Foxx’s spokesperson for comment.
