President Donald J. Trump sees off the USNS Comfort Saturday, March 28, 2020, as she departs Naval Air Station Norfolk Pier 8 in Norfolk, Virginia, and sets sail for New York City. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)
A popular Michigan high-school teacher says he was fired for a series of tweets in which he supported President Trump's call to reopen schools this fall and declared he would not be silenced.
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Justin Kucera, a varsity baseball coach and social-studies teacher, said he was called on the carpet by Walled Lake school-district officials and told he must resign or be fired, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The teacher retweeted President Trump's tweet stating "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL."
Kucera added his own message: "I'm done being silent. @RealDonaldTrump is our president."
In a July 10 meeting with human resources, the superintendent and the principal, Kucera said, the officials took his statement on why he wrote the tweets.
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They initially said they would announced a decision about his future employment in the coming days.
However, when they completed the meeting, Kucera said, "I was told I had the option to either be fired or resign."
"I know a lot of people are just rooting for Trump to fail, and I don't think that anybody should do that," he told the Free Beacon. "Agree with him or not, you should want the president to do well. I apologized that [my tweet] brought so much negative attention, but I'm not sorry for what I said."
Walled Lake Western High School is in Commerce Township, a northwest suburb of Detroit.
I’m done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president ❌🧢
Don’t @ me
— Coach Kucera (@CoachKWLW) July 7, 2020
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The Beacon reported Kucera was popular among parents and teachers, and one student lamented she would have to find a new "favorite teacher."
Recent graduate Bryant Hixon said Kucera never allowed his political views to impact his classes or teams.
A parent of two Walled Lake Western boys who asked not to be identified told the Free Beacon that Kucera was an apolitical figure who coached his son in baseball and basketball and taught his sons AP History and student leadership.
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Other Walled Lake teachers have expressed their political views, the Beacon reported, and if they are in opposition to President Trump they have faced no repercussions.
One teacher had suggested students read about "how to beat Trump," and another called Trump a "sociopath."
