Th White House held a routine ceremony to honor the nation’s Teacher of the Year. But what was not routine was that the press was not allowed to hear her acceptance speech or record it.

Mandy Manning terrified Trump because she teaches the kids he wants to exclude or deport. She spoke for them. He did not want her—or her students to be heard. She came to speak on their behalf.

Manning, from Spokane, was interviewed by “Democracy Now.”

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/10/how_the_white_house_curbed_the

““I am honored and humbled to be the vehicle through which my students may tell their stories,” Manning said in the historic East Room, as billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta looked on. “I am here for David, a future IT specialist who hopes to one day be able to attend university. I am here for Tamara, who is currently studying pre-med at Eastern Washington University. I am here for Safa and Tara, both future elementary school teachers. I am here for Solomon and Gafishi, who believe that the United States is the place where they have found the center of their lives, where they can have dreams and hopes to be someone.”

“These are the words that the White House didn’t want broadcast. We don’t know why the press wasn’t allowed to be in the room. Perhaps they didn’t want reporters to see the six buttons Mandy Manning was prominently wearing on her dress. Her buttons included artwork from the 2017 Women’s March, a rainbow flag and the slogan “Trans Equality Now!” One displayed the quote “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’”