The 'parental rights' group igniting the GOP
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
Moms for Liberty is a conservative parental rights organization that is increasingly influencing the policies of the Republican Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called it an extremist group.
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A few weeks ago, conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty held a summit in Philadelphia. At the summit, the group rallied against sexual education, critical race theory and public health mandates — all topics its members believe public schools are teaching to “indoctrinate” their children.
A few weeks before the summit, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated Moms for Liberty as an extremist group that spreads “messages of anti-inclusion and hate.” Still, GOP presidential candidates are giving their stamp of approval to the group: Presidential hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump all gave speeches at the summit.
Today, campaign reporter Hannah Knowles takes us inside the Moms for Liberty summit and explains how the group is influencing Republican Party politics.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I arrived at the Marriott in Philadelphia where this conference is being held. |
| 0:07.6 | This is Hannah Knowles. |
| 0:08.9 | She's a campaign reporter for the post. |
| 0:11.3 | A few weeks ago, she went to a conference hosted by this conservative group with some pretty |
| 0:15.9 | divisive views. |
| 0:16.9 | They're called moms for Liberty. |
| 0:19.3 | There's a real range of attendees. |
| 0:21.5 | I mean, these are not just moms who are part of moms for Liberty. |
| 0:26.0 | There's also, you know, Republicans who are there volunteering because they just really |
| 0:30.7 | like what this group is doing. |
| 0:32.3 | There are also some dads there because they care about these issues as well. |
| 0:37.5 | I'm really concerned with what's happening in schools. |
| 0:41.2 | It's not the government's children. |
| 0:42.6 | It's our children's individuals. |
| 0:44.8 | This is an insidious teaching about critical race theory. |
| 0:49.7 | It's as bad as anything that Germany ever came up with and it's very similar. |
| 0:54.5 | It's a propaganda. |
| 0:55.7 | I also object to telling some kids they're oppressed and telling other kids they're the |
| 1:00.5 | oppressors. |
| 1:01.5 | I object to that. |
| 1:02.5 | I think that's indoctrination. |
| 1:04.5 | I just don't feel it's an appropriate. |
... |
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