Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Badly Butchers Famous Ronald Reagan Quote

Does Education Secretary Miguel Cardona think we are all stupid, or is he this stupid?

Everyone is familiar with Ronald Reagan’s famous quote: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

It is repeated with regularity and its usage is widespread among conservative and libertarian Americans.

Well, Miguel Cardona sought to appropriate the quote for his own nefarious purposes in a recent address.

Here’s what Cardona said: “I think it was President Reagan who said, ‘We’re from the government. We’re here to help!'”

Clearly, this is the wrong use of the quote, but what else can we expect from a Biden acolyte? “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength” to these people. Take a look at the two addresses from both men side by side:

Sec Miguel Cardona wants you to think Ronald Reagan wanted more government

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona: "I think it was President Reagan who said, 'We're from the government. We're here to help!'" Here's the actual Reagan quote: "The nine most terrifying words in the… pic.twitter.com/uHCsSaRWjV

— Futurist (@americasgreat) November 28, 2023

Elon Musk’s X social community immediately took to the platform and issued one of the now-famous community notes to check Cardona’s clear misappropriation of the quote.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona just said with a completely straight face "I think it was President Reagan who said, 'We're from the government. We're here to help.’”
pic.twitter.com/quRgs9nb7A

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 27, 2023

The New York Post provided a bit of background context for Cardona’s comments:

While riffing about how he wants to make the Department of Education more “accessible” and provide “technical assistance” to states,” Cardona told his audience Nov. 8: “As, I think it was President Reagan, said — ‘We’re from the government, we’re here to help.’”

Cardona briefly paused after the remark and looked around as if he expected laughter, but there was no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

“When Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” He was warning us about people like Secretary Cardona. In DC, I will cut bureaucratic interference by federal officials like Cardona from our local schools,” Kari Lake said.

When Reagan said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

He was warning us about people like @SecCardona.

In DC, I will cut bureaucratic interference by federal officials like Cardona from our local schools. https://t.co/XCsEGYt4pk pic.twitter.com/JFTHuG4Qav

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 27, 2023

"'Mr. Gorbachev, build up this wall.' -Ronald Reagan"

-Miguel Cardona, probably.

— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) November 27, 2023

Fox News spelled out what the original Reagan quote meant in plain English:

According to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, the former president’s comments referred “to how the government tends to be inefficient, to such a degree that instead of helping, it often causes harm instead.”