Trump Officials Accused of Rigging Civics Contest Against Sikh Finalist

The family of 15-year-old Aangad Singh, a Sikh high school student from Connecticut, alleges he was unfairly eliminated from the Trump administration's Presidential 1776 Award civics competition due to his religious background and visible turban. Singh reached the final eight in Washington, D.C., but was not selected among the three white winners from Michigan, Washington, and Wyoming. After the televised broadcast, Singh and his family discovered that several of his correct answers—including identifying federal court jurisdictions under Article 3 and naming the 13th Amendment—had been marked wrong. The Department of Education initially refused to release scores, citing proprietary information, and later stated that judges' decisions were final and binding. The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, which scored the contest, did not respond to inquiries. The family is considering legal action, emphasizing they seek recognition for Singh's achievement rather than scholarship money.