Ned Ryun on Winning the Battle to Unmask His Kids at School

BUCK: We got our friend Ned Ryun, founder of American Majority, coming to us from the front lines of freedom in Northern Virginia, the Loudoun County school throwdown. Ned, good to have you back.

RYUN: Yeah, good to be back with you guys. Yeah, definitely a good time to be alive and never a dull moment here in Loudoun County.

BUCK: So, what’s going on with the mask situation? I know your own kids, they’ve been out of school for 10 days because they refused to get masked up by these loons?

RYUN: That’s right. No, they — and we talked through with the three older kids the process that they were not gonna show up with masks. They’re gonna get suspended. They all wanted to go through it; so they were all formerly suspended for refusing to wear masks. And that, of course, ends on Wednesday, not only because Glenn Youngkin signed into law the bill that had been passed in the Senate and the House of Delegates, but because the Loudoun County judge basically issued — well, did issue — an injunction saying that there will be no masks.

So, everybody went back to school Thursday, yesterday, without a mask, but even the best thing, Buck, was this: The judge ordered that any disciplinary actions for not obeying the mask mandate be struck from the records of all the students. So, it was one of the things where I just told the kids on the way home… We were out somewhere Wednesday night. On the way home I said, “You know, the great thing, guys, is you held in there, you hung in there, and oftentimes what leads to success is holding on when everybody else has let go.

“So, I’m so proud of you guys, and you get to go back to school tomorrow without a mask.” So, there’s been real victory. But I have to tell you, Buck, I’m a not really interested in going, “Oh, we won. We can go back to normal.” I don’t want to sing kumbaya with these folks. I’m interested in running out as many school board members as possible and pursuing other means if I think there’s an avenue for that as well ’cause I’m not interested in this happening again — and I want there to be, quite frankly, a little pain and misery for them for what they’ve done to these kids for way too long.

CLAY: So you guys won. Congratulations, and most importantly, congratulations to your kids who learned —

RYUN: Thank you.

CLAY: — an amazingly important lesson about —

RYUN: They did.

CLAY: — standing up for what’s right and getting that validation of now knowing they were right. Is this over in Arlington County and Northern Virginia too? Because I know that they’re still trying to appeal, and that thing is still a mess. For people out there geographically, Arlington County right across the river, the Potomac, from Washington, D.C., which obviously has had very Draconian covid restrictions. What’s the latest there? Has all of Virginia acquiesced to the power of the governor to make this choice or what’s going on there?

RYUN: No. No. They’re fighting, you know, it’s Arlington’s inside of Fairfax County, and Fairfax peculiar has dug in, Clay, and they’re refusing to actually suspend masks until March 1st because legally the law that was passed, March 1st is when it goes into effect. And the difference between Fairfax and Loudoun is that judge stepping in Wednesday night — I think was around 7 o’clock — saying, “No, I’m issuing an injunction.”

But, no, Fairfax has doubled down, which is completely absurd and ridiculous and are basically fighting to the last moment because they refuse to let the kids come back without masks. So I think right now as things stand, unless there’s an injunction issued by a judge in Fairfax County, those kids are not gonna be able to go back without masks until March 1st, which is completely ridiculous and absurd. When the bill — the law — has been passed, it’s in effect, but these local school boards have completely lost their minds.

They’re completely detached from reality. I reminded my kids, Clay, this has nothing to do with real data or real science. This is an out-of-touch school board really kind of having a power play, that we’re in charge and by God we’re not gonna let you come back without masks until the very last moment we are actually forced by law to do that. And the other thing, too, that’s not as well known, Clay, is up until 7 o’clock on Wednesday night, the Loudoun County public school lawyers were fighting tooth and nail to try and get the
kids that were suspended to not be able to come back until March 1st, to force the mask mandate.

And the judge finally said at 7 o’clock, “No, we’ve had enough. I’m issuing an injunction,” but the Loudoun County school board, and their lawyers were gonna fight this to the bitter end as well. So it’s pretty amazing, and I hope that we do have the ability to run some of these Loudoun school board members out this fall with special elections because the signatures have been collected on at least a couple of ’em to hopefully be able to force those recall elections this fall.

BUCK: We’re speaking to Ned Ryun, founders of American Majority. Ned, how much of this — ’cause you’ve been dealing with this situation in Loudoun County for a while now.

RYUN: Yes.

BUCK: It’s also been the site of some of these school board members who don’t like being chewed out by parents who are rightfully angry about the situation. But now with this whole… The fact that this is going to court and people spending all this time on the mask thing and schools, when we’re seeing masks drop away, mask mandates dropping away in state after state across the country, is this just about political spite?

RYUN: Yes.

BUCK: Is it because, let’s be honest, the lib education apparatus doesn’t want you have to go an inch to those evil Trumpers who don’t like masks, or are people really…? I know it’s a combination, but are people really just terrified that if kids can breathe fresh air, they’re gonna die from covid. What’s really pushing this?

RYUN: I think it’s a mix of both, Buck. I think there are still some people that literally still buy into — even though we know that there are studies out there that those stupid paper cloth masks are 10% effective, even N95 makes are 50% effective if worn correctly, but they bought into — the lie that this will protect them from this virus, and I think there’s an element of political spite that they deeply resent that Glenn Youngkin won, that Jason Miyares is the attorney general, that Republicans now control the House of Delegates.

Yes, so there’s an element of bitterness and anger about losing politically. But I think this is gonna have serious consequences for them. Not only here in Loudoun, in Virginia, but we saw it in San Francisco. People have had enough. People have said, “We’re done here. You’re not the ones that get to dictate to us how you use our taxpayer dollars, how you teach our kids.” Quite frankly, it’s more they’re trying to indoctrinate, but we’ve had enough.

BUCK: Is Glenn Youngkin the real deal, from what you’re seeing so far?

RYUN: Yes. Yes.

BUCK: ‘Cause so far from an outsider’s perspective — I don’t live in the state but — I’m like, this guy is it if we go to it done.

RYUN: I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I have to tell you I had my question marks that maybe some of this was political expediency, but he’s been true to his word. He said, “I’m gonna be your advocate. I’m gonna be your champion, parents. You’re gonna have the ability to have more choice and more say in how your children are educated and their health choices when they go to school,” and he did not back down. He and Jason Miyares have gone to the mat and said, “We promised you we would do this and we’ve actually done it,” and it’s required a little bit of political courage. But unlike a lot of politicians said, “I’m going to do this,” and he’s actually followed through on his promises.

CLAY: Ned, this is a perfect example of elections having consequences —

RYUN: Oh, absolutely.

CLAY: — because for people out there who are living in different parts of the country and they are saying, “Hey, my kids are still masked up, we still don’t have freedom as parents to make a choice for our own kids,” you guys proved, change one office — and I know the AG and also lieutenant governor changed — but that changed everything when it comes to masks. It’s upsetting that Fairfax is trying to hold out until March 1st. But if Terry McAuliffe wins this election, you’re finishing the school year with all your kids in masks.

RYUN: Oh, at a minimum. But even more so, Clay, the fact that elections have consequences, the reason we were able to get this pulled off: House of Delegates.

CLAY: Yes.

RYUN: House of Delegates flipped seven seats. Now it’s a 52-48 Republican majority. And they were able to get this through. I think the pleasant surprise was the fact that the state senate, which is Democrat majority 21-19, actually passed through SB-739, this bill that actually lifts the mask mandate. But, yeah, elections have consequences. We won the governorship, we won the attorney general, we won the lieutenant governor, we won the House of Delegates a state that Biden won by 10 points in the 2020.

These things have consequences that impact our daily lives — and that’s why I’m telling people, “You better focus on this fall from school board all the way to federal,” and if we do it right, I think we will be very, very pleasantly surprised by the impact that we can have. But I want people to really double down and say, “You know what? Even though we’ve won in this mask mandate situation in the short term, I want there to be more permanent victories. We have to take over more school boards to say, ‘We’re never gonna let this happen again.'”

BUCK: Our friend Ned Ryun, he is the founder of American Majority and also the author of The Advisory the story of Boston and Bunker Hill which you can all pick up for some weekend reading. Ned, thanks for being with us, my friend.

RYUN: I appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

BUCK: Clay, can you believe that we actually are at the end of today’s show? It feels like it’s been hour 1, but we’ve been flying by.

CLAY: The week passes fast. I hope it passes fast for our listeners as well. But, man, it’s good to finish with the big dub, right? I mean, for all those people… I know we have a lot of people listening in Northern Virginia because of the battleground of school masking, for them to pull off this win — you just heard Ned Ryun talking about it, Buck — to me, is a perfect road map for so many other states out there.

Certainly, you saw it happen in San Francisco where they kicked three school board members who were of the woke agenda trying to rename all the schools while they were still shut down, trying to cover up paintings that they didn’t like inside of the school building. There is a rising tide of sanity and it is sweeping out all of the Democrat insanity. I really am super optimistic about that in the months ahead.

BUCK: We’re still gonna be the gathering point, the field of muster, the town hall square for everybody who wants to get into this fight this year and this midterm election, folks, so get excited about that.