Sen. Ron Johnson says critical race theory, 'wokeness' responsible for school shootings

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said he opposes new gun laws and blamed “wokeness” and critical race theory for school shootings days after a gunman in Texas killed 21 people, almost all of whom were elementary school students.

“This is a society-wide problem, a society-wide sickness that is not going to be solved by some gun law, additional gun laws here in Washington, D.C.,” the Oshkosh Republican told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto.

Asked whether stiffer background checks could curb future school shootings, Johnson said people will always fall through the cracks. He added he believed some people shouldn’t have guns but questioned how that determination might be made.

“The solution lies in stronger families, more supportive communities, I would argue renewed faith,” he said. “We’ve lost that. We stopped teaching values in so many of our schools. Now we’re teaching wokeness. We’re indoctrinating our children with things like CRT, telling, you know, some children they’re not equal to others and they’re the cause of other people’s problems.”

CRT refers to critical race theory, a decades-old academic framework used in graduate courses to understand how laws and institutions perpetuate racism. It is not taught in elementary schools, though conservatives have often conflated it with lessons focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. The concept has become a campaign talking point among conservatives trying to galvanize their base.

Cavuto pushed back, saying school shootings have been going on long before “wokeness” and critical race theory.

“I think CRT has been going on under the radar for quite some time as well,” Johnson said. “Wokeness has been, liberal indoctrination has been. This is a much larger issue than what a simple new gun law’s going to, it’s not going to solve it, it’s not going to solve it.”

Johnson spokesperson Alexa Henning did not respond to a request for comment.

“Ron Johnson is bearing false witness when he refuses to name the cause of these mass tragedies, which is our nation’s lunatic access to weapons of mass destruction of the type used to slaughter these children in Uvalde,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson said in a statement, calling for an assault rifle ban.

“Doing nothing has resulted in one thing: more dead children, and the people of Wisconsin are tired of having a do-nothing Senator in Washington,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry said. “We need to ban assault weapons, expand background checks, and make our communities safer. The only way to change the deadly status quo in this country is to get Ron Johnson out of the Senate.”

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski called for comprehensive background checks, red flag laws and a ban on high-capacity magazines, saying most Americans support those measures. She slammed Republicans in Washington, D.C., “bought and paid for by the gun lobby, who filibuster any meaningful change to our lax gun laws — forcing the rest of us to accept mass shooting deaths as a normal feature of American life.”

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said Johnson wants to distract from the $1.2 million he has taken from the gun lobby. He questioned how Wisconsinites could trust “anything that comes out of the mouth of a self-serving politician” whose loyalty can be bought.

“Ron Johnson and his gun lobby-funded colleagues are the reason we haven’t been able to pass commonsense gun reform,” he said. “If he won’t step up to protect our kids, I will.”

Johnson’s comments came a day after Democrats blocked his effort to codify the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety into law.

That measure calls for the clearinghouse to include information about threat prevention, preparedness, protection, mitigation, incident response and recovery.

“It’s a good idea,” Johnson said. “It could save lives. It is an action, when people are calling for action following this tragedy.”

Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked action on the bill Wednesday, saying he would focus instead on a measure that would authorize federal agencies to monitor, analyze, investigate and prosecute domestic terrorists. Republicans blocked that bill Thursday.