Saint John — With the countdown to Christmas on the minds of many Maritime children, kindergartener Davis Smith has been preoccupied with his political aspirations instead.
On the cusp of the class president selection, 5-year-old Smith is being criticized by his opponent, Abigail Mason, for employing tactics out of Donald Trump’s political playbook.
Yesterday at morning recess, Smith was openly denigrating his opponent’s appearance to his classmates. “Nobody has more respect for girls than I do,” he said. “But, look at her. Believe me, she would not be my first choice.”
Smith and Mason have been locked in an epic two-person battle for president of their kindergarten class of 74 children at King Street Elementary School. Starting last month, the school sponsored the mock election to teach about civics in the wake of the recent high-profile elections.
However, it appears that one candidate has learned the lessons of Trump’s electoral success a little too well. Smith has embraced the xenophobic and abusive rhetorical style of the president-elect in an effort to edge out his opponent.
“We have terrible, terrible teachers. The worst ever, believe me,” asserted Smith. “I know more about teaching kindergarten than they do. The teachers’ union has reduced our educators to rubble!”
Moreover, Smith is advocating a controversial plan to stop new students from other parts of the city, other towns, provinces and countries from coming to their school. “We need to keep these people out. We have no idea who these people are. We’re not supposed to talk to strangers, but look what our principal is doing. It’s a disaster, folks.”
Smith has been accused of several counts of pulling girls’ hair, as well as bragging that he can “do anything [he] wants… grab them by the pigtails.” Remarkably, despite several accusers coming forward, no disciplinary action has been taken against him. Instead, Smith has turned the tables against the girls themselves, saying he is telling every one of their moms that they are “liar liars with their pants on fire.”
He is also casting doubt on whether his opponent is even eligible to be in the class. “That nasty girl looks awfully young to me. I’m hearing that she’s not even old enough to even be in kindergarten.
“I mean… has anyone seen her birth certificate?”