Former congressman and Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney argued on Thursday that a North Carolina high school’s “privileged” banner aimed at a rival Catholic high school team will not result in any penalties.
“The one group you can still discriminate against in this country are traditional Christians. And that’s what Charlotte Catholic High School is. So my guess is nothing will really come of this,” Mulvaney told “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
North Carolina parents attending a high school football game were stunned by a banner implying a Catholic high school was privileged and populated with “rich, White” families.
“Sniff, Sniff. You smell that? $Privilege$,” read a banner held by cheerleaders from Butler High School on Friday near Charlotte, WBTV reported. The school’s football team ran through the banner before the start of the game against Charlotte Catholic High School, where Mulvaney attended.
NC PARENTS OUTRAGED OVER TEAM’S ‘PRIVILEGED’ BANNER AT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME: ‘RACIST’
“The thing that was so disturbing was it was children,” Melissa Swanson, a parent who attended the football game with her son, told WBTV.
“Whether they are high school, elementary school or middle school – they’re children. The administration, the coaches, the athletic director – they had to know it.”
Swanson said the sign portrays the Catholic school as a “rich, White high school.”
Other parents voiced outrage on social media, demanding the Charlotte Mecklenburg School district take action, WSOC reported.
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Reacting to the news that unfolded at his alma mater, Mulvaney argued that “there will be no real penalties against any of the administrators at Butler High School.”
“There’ll be no real penalties against the kids who made the signs or used the signs and so forth, because it’s still the one group you can discriminate against, White Christians.”
Mulvaney, who served as President Trump’s White House chief of staff and as special envoy for Northern Ireland, said he’s “glad” the issue is gaining attention and said it’s a result of race becoming “a central issue in education.”
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.