Teacher goes viral after claiming district fired him for tweeting 'Trump is our president' — but there's a bit more to the story

UPDATE: July 7, 2020 4:42 P.M. ET:

A spokesperson for Walled Lake Schools tells The Blaze that Kucera is no longer employed by the district.

In a lengthy statement, the spokesperson said:

When media stories/issues that garner public attention arise, we want to keep you informed around the District response.

Recently there have been stories in the media regarding a former employee of Walled Lake. As a matter of policy and practice, Walled Lake Schools does not comment on current and/or former employees as it relates to specific personnel issues.

These are difficult times in our community and across our country. When issues arise there's a temptation to view items through the lens of our fractured political discourse. Walled Lake encourages students and staff members to engage each other with mutual respect and civility.

We believe in the power of education and critical thinking. We believe vigorous community discussion, done with civility and mutual respect, leads to productive and innovative outcomes. In the Walled Lake Schools' educational setting, we encourage positive discourse and working together to make decisions that benefit our community.

Original story continues below ...

A Michigan high school teacher says his district fired him for saying "Trump is our president" on social media.

His account of the alleged incident is in dispute, however, following a report of conflicting information.

What are the details?

On July 6, Justin Kucera — a social studies teacher and varsity baseball coach at Walled Lake Western High School — wrote, "I'm done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president. Don't @ me."

That same day, he shared a tweet from President Donald Trump, which says, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!"

Kucera said his statements ruffled feathers within the school and the district at large, and insisted that he was left without a job after speaking with school officials.

In a recent interview, Kucera told the Washington Free Beacon that the school's principal and district superintendent contacted him shortly after he made the remarks on Twitter.

"I was required to meet with [human resources], the superintendent, and my principal [on July 10]," he told the outlet. "They initially took my statement on why I tweeted those tweets and they told me they would have a decision about my future employment in the upcoming days.

"When they completed the meeting," he continued, "I was told I had the option to either be fired or resign."

Kucera added that he wasn't trying to send an inflammatory message with the tweet, but instead, wished to unite people.

"I know a lot of people are just rooting for Tump to fail, and I don't think that anybody should do that," he reasoned. "Agree with him or not, you should want the president to do well. I apologized that [the tweet] brought so much negative attention, but I'm not sorry for what I said."

What else do we know?

A Tuesday Fox Business report noted that Kenneth Gutman, Walled Lake Consolidated School District superintendent, said that he was not in any meeting with Kucera, and that no disciplinary action had been taken against the social studies teacher and coach for his remarks about Trump.

He said, "No disciplinary action was taken as a result of any support of President Trump and we are unable to comment on specific staff discipline/personnel matters."

TheBlaze reached out to the Walled Lake Consolidated School District and Kucera for comment on the developing story, but did not receive a response in time for publication.