Podcast Summary:

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Special Episode: David Rutherford Show — How Communism Took Over Public Schools | Guest: Robert Bortins
Release Date: February 4, 2026
Podcast Host: David Rutherford (guest-hosting under the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton umbrella)
Guest: Robert Bortins, co-author of "Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education"

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the history and mechanisms by which Marxist and collectivist ideologies have infiltrated the American public school system. Host David Rutherford interviews Robert Bortins—author, education advocate, and homeschooling parent—about his newest book (co-written with Alex Newman), the roots of perceived failures in America's education system, the origins and effects of these ideologies, and actionable steps for parents and communities seeking to regain ownership of their children's educational pathways.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Purpose Behind the Book "Woke and Weaponized"

• Motivation:
  • Bortins, a homeschooling parent, sought to identify and address the root causes of cultural and educational decline in America.
  • He notes (01:55): "To fix a problem you have to understand the root cause... Alex and I wanted to go back to the root cause. How did we get to where we are today?"
• Historical sweep:
  • The investigation traces the indoctrination of collectivist ideals back to the 1820s, citing documents and reports such as the Reese Report (01:55).
• Goal:
  • To propose practical ways, especially for Christian families and church communities, to re-engage and reclaim educational influence.

The Historical Roots of Public Education's Ideological Shift

• Not just failing—by design:
  • Bortins asserts schools are successful in their founders’ aims, not in genuine academic outcomes (06:22):
    "Our public school is not failing. It's wildly successful. It's just wildly successful in the founder's vision of what it was going to do..."
• Robert Owen and "the trinity of evil”:
  • Early collectivist Robert Owen critiqued family, private property, and religion as obstacles to collectivism (06:22).
  • These ideas influenced Prussia’s system, whose model was imported into the U.S. by reformers like Horace Mann with sponsorship from wealthy families (Rockefeller, Ford).

Industrialization, the Elites, and the Need for Obedient Workers

• Why did elites embrace collectivist education?
  • To engineer “obedient workers” who would do repetitive, unfulfilling factory jobs without objection (10:39):
    "They wanted to merge the Soviet Union or Russia at that time with the United States. And the only way to do that was through education..."
• Manipulated perceptions:
  • Soviet-style “Potemkin villages” fooled American educational leaders and journalists, furthering the myth of collective utopia (10:39).

The Infiltration of Higher Education and Teachers Colleges

• Targeted ideological investment:
  • 80% of communist infiltration efforts and funding went into education, particularly teachers colleges, versus 20% into Hollywood (14:04).
• Lasting effects and acceleration:
  • This “long march” means public school graduates since roughly 1940 are products of a system saturated with collectivist ideas.
• Recent accelerations:
  • Only in the past 10-15 years (since the Obama administration) have the final vestiges of Christian cultural influence been eroded (14:04).

The Deception and “Success” of the Current System

• Grading and rankings are misleading:
  • Local school ratings mask dramatically lowered standards and expectations (26:09).
• Centralization eroded local control:
  • Despite local school boards' existence, most real power (curriculum, standards) is now held by state and federal agencies, effectively muzzling parental/community input (26:09).

The Pathway Forward: Parental and Community Action

• Urgent call for parental responsibility:
  • "The pathway forward is for fathers to start taking, you know, control of their children's education, whether it's homeschooling or private schooling..." (43:01)
  • Churches, local communities, and especially pastors are called to step in and provide resources, scholarships, and leadership.
• Public education cannot be internally reformed:
  • Essential message: The system works exactly as intended—families must opt out to reclaim children's minds (45:46):
    "The public school system can't be reformed because it's doing exactly what it was designed to do."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Our public school is not failing. It's wildly successful. It's just wildly successful in the founder's vision..."
  — Robert Bortins (06:22)

• "The trinity of evil that [Owen] was fighting against... was religion, private property and family or marriage."
  — Robert Bortins (06:22)

• "They wanted to bring people in because what they saw was... in communism, it's not that everyone has the same thing, it's that there's the rulers who have all the power, and then there is the workers who do whatever the rulers say."
  — Robert Bortins (10:39)

• "It's been a long march through our institutions. But, you know, it really was some of the richest men in America that financed it..."
  — Robert Bortins (14:04)

• "It's not failing. It is wildly successful because it was a collectivist system designed to rid America from its Christian heritage and to destroy private property rights."
  — Robert Bortins (45:46)

• Host David Rutherford’s reflection:
  "When I first got out of the teams, I worked for Blackwater for a little while and then I started, I wanted to work with kids...and I was getting pushback from [private] schools as well too, which were way more radicalized than the public school system...that’s when I realized, oh, there's something going on here. There's something really pervasive in what they're restricting from allowing these kids to learn." (30:32)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:55] — Bortins explains the impetus for researching and co-authoring "Woke and Weaponized".
• [06:22] — Public education’s true purpose; the influence of Robert Owen, the concept of the "trinity of evil".
• [10:39] — Why elites and industrialists adopted collectivist education; creation of “obedient workers”.
• [14:04] — Targeted infiltration of educators and long-term effects; recent acceleration during Obama years.
• [26:09] — How parents and the community are kept in the dark and how standards have been eroded.
• [34:40] — Rutherford’s personal story of confronting educational gatekeeping.
• [43:01] — Bortins on the pathway forward: reclaiming education through direct parental and church involvement.
• [45:46] — Need for opt-out, not reform; the system is not accidentally failing.

Episode Tone and Language

• Candid, urgent, and occasionally combative, blending scholarly critique with direct appeals for action.
• Frequently references current and historical political events, weaving together personal experience, research findings, and cultural observation.

Conclusion

This episode offers a sweeping, detailed indictment of the American education system’s transformation over the past two centuries. Bortins and Rutherford argue the so-called failures of public education are, in fact, indications of its success as a vehicle for collectivist and Marxist ideology. The call to action is explicit: parents and churches must take decisive steps to pull children out of public systems and restore educational control to local families and communities. The conversation is rich with historical detail, couched in the language of patriotism and resistance, and provides practical as well as ideological guidance for listeners concerned about the future of American education.

Further Resources:

• Book: "Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education"
• Guest: Robert Bortins (@TheRobertBShow on X, Refining Rhetoric Podcast)
• For local homeschool support: classicalconversations.com