Pompeo challenges teachers union leader Weingarten to debate

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is challenging American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten to a debate after calling her the "most dangerous person in the United States" because he thinks her education policies have a negative impact on students.

"I am prepared to debate her and to present to the American people my case for the risks she presents to our republic and our nation’s future," Pomepo, considered a top-tier potential GOP presidential candidate in 2024, wrote in an op-ed Tuesday for The New York Post.

Weingarten has responded: "If he wants to engage in a real discussion about what children need to thrive, how to strengthen public education, or the importance of treating teachers with respect, fine with me. But I will not be a prop for Mr. Pompeo’s presidential ambitions.

Weingarten, whose union represents 1.7 million teachers, states her biography that she led efforts against former President Donald Trump's "racist policies and attacks on facts and democracy."

She vowed last year to defend union members teaching so-called "Critical Race Theory" – which teaches that America is a fundamentally racist nation.