WASHINGTON (WTVO/NEXSTAR) – President Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order to promote “patriotic education” in the United States.

“I will soon sign an executive order establishing a national commission to promote patriotic education,” Trump said. “It will be called the ‘1776 Commission.’”

Trump made the comments while speaking at the National Archives.

“It will encourage our educators to teach our children about the miracle of American history, and make plans to honor the 250th Anniversary of our founding,” Trump said.

It’s not yet clear how the commission will function.

At a White House press conference in early September, Trump, who has called for “patriotic education” in the past, blamed recent violent protests on “left-wing indoctrination” in schools, specifically “critical race theory.”

“Many young Americans have been fed lies about America being a wicked nation plagued by racism,” Trump said.

Trump cited a recent example of critical race theory from a post from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which ““alleged that concepts such as hard work, rational thinking, and the nuclear family and belief in God were not values that unite all Americans, but were instead aspects of whiteness.”

The document was changed after a criticism said it promoted views similar to those espoused by white supremacist groups.

“This is offensive and outrageous to Americans of every ethnicity,” Trump said. “It is especially harmful to children of minority backgrounds who should be uplifted, not disparaged. Teaching this horrible doctrine is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words.”

According to a report from Politico, Trump argued that children should be taught America is a country worth defending and protecting.

“The only path to unity is to rebuild a shared national identity focused on common American values and virtues of which we have plenty,” he said. “This includes restoring patriotic education in our nation’s schools, where they are trying to change everything that we have learned.”

Earlier this month, Trump ordered the Office of Management and Budget to strike critical race theory from federal agency training, calling it “divisive, anti-American propaganda.”

The president’s comments are aligned with his “Fighting for You!” reelection agenda, which was released before last week’s Republican National Convention, according to Fox News.

As part of that plan, two of the education tenets include “teach American exceptionalism” and “provide school choice to every child in America.”

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