PHILADELPHIA — Moms for Liberty flexed its newfound political muscle when a series of top Republican presidential contenders made a pilgrimage to the national summit of the seedling activist group focused on parental rights.
The appearances of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador Nikki Haley were testaments to the group’s exponential growth and influence since its 2021 launch at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In school board races, PTA meetings and town halls across the nation, you have taught the radical left Marxists and communists a lesson they will never forget: Don’t mess with America’s moms,” Mr. Trump told the crowd Friday in a Philadelphia Marriott ballroom.
Republican presidential hopefuls Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also addressed the four-day summit, which opened on Thursday.
For the first time, Republican presidential candidates are campaigning on children’s education curriculum as a galvanizing issue. Republicans had mostly ceded K-12 education issues to Democrats and their teachers union allies, but the pandemic energized parents opposed to liberal-leaning school establishment and opened a new front in America’s culture wars. Republican candidates have tapped the movement as soccer mom voters morph into parental rights voters.
The Moms for Liberty activists say the teachers unions and school systems created the movement by mistreating parents and children with pandemic school shutdowns and masking and COVID vaccine mandates.
“The nation recognizes that it’s the year of the parent and that parents are tired of taking everything that the government dishes out with regards to … our children in the schools. I think that the parents are finally tired of it,” said Moms for Liberty Chairwoman Cyndi Roberts, 50, of Colleton County, South Carolina.
Deb Fillman said parents’ voices have finally reached the forefront.
“Politicians are realizing this is now an important constituency that they need to listen to. And I think that’s legitimate because taxpayers pay for the schools,” said Ms. Fillman, 57, who traveled to the summit from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It’s as simple as parents taking a stand, she said.
“Between the pandemic and the shutdown of schools and then seeing what virtual learning has done to the learning loss in many cases, I think parents just sort of got activated and realized we need to be more front and center with this.”
The group has drawn fierce opposition from the political left.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Moms for Liberty as an “extremist” group and put it on a “hate list.” The civil rights advocacy organization accuses Moms for Liberty of harassing LGBTQ people, promoting anti-gay misinformation and fighting diversity and inclusion in school materials.
Moms for Liberty has more than 100,000 members in 45 states and has used those numbers to elect like-minded candidates to school boards and other local offices and to lobby state legislatures.
The group supports Florida’s ban on teaching gender identity topics to primary and middle school students. Liberal critics dubbed it the “don’t say gay” law and a book ban, and they pummelled Mr. DeSantis for signing the legislation.
Mr. DeSantis trumpeted the necessity of the law when he spoke at the summit.
“You have a book in Florida that was found in one of the school districts, instructing middle schoolers how to use sex apps on their phones. So, this is totally inappropriate. And so parents blow the whistle,” he said. “And obviously, no one defends this stuff. And so it gets removed. Now, the left and the media try to say that means you’re banning books. Well, let me tell you something: In Florida, you can buy any of those books that you want. And there’s not been a single book that’s been banned.”
Liberals demonstrated outside the hotel during the summit. Before the event, activists from Agenda PAC, an LGBTQ advocacy group, placed hangers on hotel room doors that read: “Please Disturb. Fascism in Progress.”
Florida resident Leslie Kirchenbaum said the Republican candidates were drawn to the summit because they, too, are attacked by left-wing activists.
“DeSantis said it best: ‘You guys are getting a warm welcome from everyone. Now you know what it feels like to be me. Because you receive so much hate when you’re trying to do the right thing,’” said Ms. Kirchenbaum, 39.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s happening in our country. Many of us are fighting back. And this comes with the territory,” she said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled the last name of summit attendee Deb Fillman.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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