The real point of this is that the “teacher”, academic genius that she is, is being out debated by a high school student. I had this same conversation when I was in high school with a racially similar teacher about Jimmy Carter. Yes, at 16 years old I knew Jimmy Carter was an idiot. My teacher didn’t argue like this one did, she had a different debating style; she just shut up.
I had a Nun that was the same way. Praised Carter up and down. I was 14 and I had a Ford bumper sticker hidden in one of my books and would flash it when her back was turned.