PHILADELPHIA – The two leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination courted conservative women at the Moms for Liberty conference in Philadelphia on Friday, galvanizing a group that has gained substantial clout within the GOP with its fierce opposition to child-rearing instruction. race and gender identity in government. the classrooms of the country.
Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed eager to outdo the other as they called gender-affirmation “mutilation” and spoke of their efforts to eliminate critical theory from race DeSantis vowed to “fight the awakening,” while Trump railed against what he called the “toxic poison of gender ideology” and the “sick creed of woke communism.”
While the graphic rhetoric resonates with the most active part of the Republican base, as evidenced by the enthusiastic reception both received, it could turn off more moderate voters in a general election.
The group, which was founded in Florida in 2021 to fight local COVID school mask mandates and quarantine requirements, has quickly become a force in conservative politics. But it has also been accused of preaching hate, and the Southern Poverty Law Center recently labeled it an “extremist” organization for allegedly harassing community members, advancing anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation and fighting to remove diverse material and including lesson plans.
The conference, which was held in a downtown hotel, nevertheless attracted a handful of leading Republican presidential candidates.
DeSantis praised the group for “being attacked by the left,” saying it was “a sign that we’re winning this fight.” It overcame efforts in Florida to ban discussions of race and sexual identity in classrooms, as well as certain books from school libraries. And he pledged to “fight the awakening” as president.
“I think what we’ve seen across this country in recent years has awakened the most powerful political force in the country: the mother bear. And they’re ready to roll,” she said, predicting that mothers would be “the key political force for this 2024 cycle.”
“2024 will be the year parents across the country finally stand up for themselves,” he said.
Trump also accused the “radical left” of “defaming Moms for Liberty as a so-called hate group.”
“But Moms for Liberty is not a hate group,” she said. “You are merry warriors, you are fierce, fierce patriots. You are no threat to the United States.”
Trump told them that if he won a second term, he would sign an executive order to cut federal funding to any school that “promotes critical race theory, transgender bigotry, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content to our children.” He called for the direct election—and dismissal—of school principals by parents.
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Like DeSantis, he was deeply critical of gender-affirming care. He promised to sign an executive order instructing federal agencies “to cease promoting sex or gender transition at any age.” He said hospitals and health care providers who provide gender-based care to minors should be found in violation of federal health and safety standards and lose federal funding, and said he would ask Congress to ban it in 50 states
After his speech, Trump stopped at Pat’s King of Steaks, a local Philadelphia institution, where he posed for photos and signed autographs for fans.
The high interest in the event among GOP hopefuls underscores the influence of Moms for Liberty, which has made connections with powerful GOP organizations, politicians and donors to become a major political player. The group says it has no plans to endorse any presidential candidate in 2024.
Moms for Liberty has grown from three Florida moms opposing the COVID-19 mandates in 2021 to claiming 285 chapters in 45 states. Along the way, he’s found a close ally in DeSantis, who last year was presented with a “sword of liberty” at the group’s first annual meeting and has signed multiple bills he’s supported .
Beyond remarks from the candidates and other speakers, the summit includes strategy sessions on topics such as “protecting children from gender ideology” and “comprehensive sex education: sex education or sexualization.”
Summit attendees said they liked what they were hearing so far.
“I love Moms for Freedom,” said Debbie McGinley, who is running for school board in the Methacton School District outside Philadelphia. As a father of three who lost his hair salon business during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said he appreciated the group “fighting for our children.”
Lucy Reyna, treasurer of a Moms for Liberty chapter in Indiana, said she traveled to the conference to learn more about the national organization.
“What am I part of? I need to know these things,” Reyna said, adding that if the group leaned too partisan in one direction, it would make her reconsider her participation.
Outside, roughly 200 LGBTQ+ parent activists and advocates gathered to protest, citing the SPLC’s “extremist” designation of the group. They chanted, “Not in our city” and “Let’s say gay” while holding signs that read, “Hate is not patriotic” and “Philly is the most LGBTQ city.”
Some protesters said specific incidents sparked their activism, including an Indiana Moms for Liberty chapter that posted an Adolf Hitler quote in its newsletter before apologizing and removing it, and a Tennessee chapter that complained from the lessons on black civil rights figures martin luther king jr. and Ruby Bridges. .
“I think they’re afraid. And that turns into hate very quickly,” said Molly Roses, a Philadelphia resident who joined the protest.
In the days leading up to the conference, several historical associations, state senators, activists and employees of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia had unsuccessfully asked the museum to cancel a welcome event for the conference Thursday night. The event went as planned.
The museum told The Associated Press that “because fostering understanding within a democratic society is so central to our mission, turning away visitors based on ideology would in fact be antithetical to our purpose.”
In her remarks, Moms for Liberty’s national director of engagement, Tia Bess, rejected claims that the group is racist.
“Do I look like a racist to everyone?” Bess, who is black, told an overwhelmingly white audience.
Tiffany Justice, one of the group’s co-founders, sarcastically responded to the SPLC’s “extremist” label on stage Friday, referring to herself as “the face of domestic terrorism, apparently.”
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, another GOP candidate who appeared Friday, said that “When they mentioned that it was a terrorist organization … I said, well, then I would count as a mother for freedom”.
While Moms for Liberty says it’s nonpartisan, it has overwhelmingly garnered support from conservatives. The group has also fought to elect conservative candidates to school boards across the country.
Although the group’s status as a 501(c)4 nonprofit means it does not have to disclose its funders, its public donors include conservative powerhouses such as the Heritage Foundation and the Leadership Institute, a national organization of political training
Patriot Mobile, a far-right Christian cell phone company that paid to sponsor Trump’s remarks at the conference, has a political action committee that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to take over the Texas school boards.
The Florida-based Mom for Liberty PAC also received a $50,000 donation from Julie Fancelli, a Republican donor whose family owns Publix grocery stores and who helped fund the “Stop the Steal” rally by Trump on Jan. 6, according to the Jan. 6 House committee findings. Fancelli did not respond to a request for comment.
By ALI SWENSON and JILL COLVIN with contributions from Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and video reporter David R. Martin in Philadelphia.
