WASHINGTON — A man who identifies as a woman says he was only being sarcastic as he responded to rumors that Joe Biden had selected him to be the next Secretary of Education. The misinformation, which apparently began with a social media post from an obscure Twitter user, has been believed and reposted online by Christians and non-Christians alike.
The matter seems to have started when an entity identified as “VagrantDude” posted to social media on Tuesday, “#Breaking: Biden Taps Charlotte Clymer for U.S. Secretary of Education.” The Twitter page for the site “Breaking 911” also shared the stated “breaking news,” and word began spreading online, with some sharing screenshots of the post.
Charles “Charlotte” Clymer, Army veteran and former press secretary for the homosexual advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, responded to the rumor later in the day, writing, “There’s a viral rumor going around MAGA Twitter that President-elect Biden has asked me to be his Secretary of Education, and I just want to confirm it’s true. His goal was to get someone more qualified than Betsy DeVos for the position, and well, oddly enough, I am.”
He added, “To be fair, however, there are high school kids more qualified than me for the position. Tough break on the age restriction, kiddos.”
Following his post, some took Clymer’s words seriously, and the rumors continued to spread throughout the day Wednesday, along with the Breaking 911 screenshot. The site CelebPie also published an article asking, “Who Is Charlotte Clymer? Secretary of Education 2021.”
“Biden makes abusive Twitter troll ‘Charlotte’ Clymer, Sec. of Education. God have mercy,” one online commenter posted to social media.
“Meet Biden’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Education, Charlotte Clymer,” another announced. “Biden wants to give power over our youngest and most vulnerable’s education to a man with a mental disorder. He wants to honor a man who thinks He’s a woman by making him our health secretary. Pure evil!!!”
“I confirmed it,” a YouTuber stated in a video that obtained nearly 2,000 views as of press time. “I went to this man’s Twitter account and I saw the tweet.”
Clymer says that a reporter with Fox News even reached out to him about the matter, sharing a screenshot of the communication, which read, “Is there any truth to the rumor that you have been offered the position of Sec. of Education from President-Elect Biden? Have you had any contact with the incoming administration about any role in the new administration?”
Clymer, writing an “LOL” above the post, said that he responded to Fox, “C’mon,” and then added, “I will accept nothing less than ambassador to the Galactic Federation.”
On Tuesday evening, Clymer addressed the matter once again to make clear that he was kidding and to note that he has no qualifications for the position.
“One of the less stable people in Trump World started a rumor that went viral, and there are currently tens of thousands of Trump supporters under the impression that President-elect Biden has nominated me to be his Secretary of Education, despite having zero qualifications for the post,” he wrote.
“So, naturally, as I started to get hate mail over it, I responded the only way I knew how: with humor and dripping sarcasm,” Clymer stated. “They’re now using my tweet to show to their friends who are skeptical as proof that, yes, the rumor is true. I give up.”
The initial “VagrantDude” post and Breaking 911 post about the matter appear to have now been deleted.
While the rumors about Clymer are not true, Biden, however, has repeatedly expressed his support for those who identify as “transgender,” posting to social media in January that “[t]ransgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time.” He made a similar comment in 2012 when campaigning as vice president.
Biden also plans to push for the passage of the Equality Act, which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to federal civil rights law. He has stated that “religion should not be used as a license to discriminate” against homosexuals and transgenders, expressing opposition to the Trump administration’s “broad religious exemptions to existing nondiscrimination laws and policies,” which grant conscience protections to “businesses, medical providers, and adoption agencies.”
Proverbs 18:13 teaches, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.”
Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, written by Baptist theologian John Gill, expounded on the passage by explaining, “Who is impatient, and cannot wait to hear it out, but breaks in upon the speaker before he has finished what he has to say; or is rash and precipitate, and returns an answer at once, without weighing and considering, and thoroughly understanding, what is said, it is folly and shame unto him; his answer must be a foolish one, and bring shame and confusion upon him; men should be ‘swift to hear,’ and ‘slow to speak, James 1:9.”
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