A media training session at the organization's annual conference provided a rare look inside the effort to control the narrative.

PHILADELPHIA — Last week, a local Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty attracted attention for quoting Adolf Hitler in its newsletter. After the local paper reported the story, the group added additional “context” but kept the quote. Eventually, after it faced even more scrutiny, the organization removed the quote and apologized in a statement posted to its Facebook group.

That, however, was a big mistake, according to advice at the Moms for Liberty national conference’s media training session Friday.

“Never apologize. Ever,” said Christian Ziegler, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “This is my view. Other people have different views on this. I think apologizing makes you weak.”

He advised the attendees to instead make it clear that the Hitler comment was “vile” but to immediately pivot to make the point that Hitler indoctrinated children in schools and that that’s what Moms for Liberty was fighting against. Ziegler warned that any apology would become the headline, so that should be avoided.

You read that right. He said to not apologize for quoting Hitler. That’s what we’re dealing with now.

  • Dienervent
    -14•1 year ago

    I may be butting into a topic I don’t understand. I don’t know much about these Moms for Liberty except that I thing I’ve heard that they support trump.

    The quote in question is: "He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.”

    It’s pretty ambiguous in its meaning and intent. In the context where it was used: advocating for parents to have more control over their children’s education: aka decentralize control of children.

    But let me point you to a less catchy but far more horrifying quote:

    I rarely agree with or endorse or agree with violence. But the rise of the far-right shitbirds has really led me to believe that perhaps General Sherman really should’ve gone all the way to the sea.

    If I learned anything from playing Civilzation, even when you win a neighboring city over to your side with culture or trade alone, they’re always going to be a problem. It’s better to just raze the whole damn thing to the ground and start over in the same spot.

    It has 2 upvotes and I’m the only downvote …

    You talk about bad faith actors using shitty strategy to derail the debate. They’re affirming that parents should have more control over their children’s education, they unwisely used a Hitler quote without enough context in one of their publication and now that’s all you want to talk about.

    I haven’t looked into it but I’m pretty sure that the greater context here is that these parents don’t want their kids to be taught that “it’s ok to be gay” and “kill the trans” is a bad thing to say. They probably won’t say it publicly, but that’s what I suspect is really going on.

    And if I see them on the fediverse making these kinds of statements I might call them out on it. If I see them accusing the other side of acting in bad faith by acting in bad faith themselves, I might call them all on it. And if I see them almost directly calling for armed conflict, you bet your ass I’ll DEFINITELY call them out on it.

    But guess who it is that I see acting in bad faith right now? You.

    And guess who it is that I see kinda, “but really just joking”, advocating for armed conflict / quasi genocide? Someone on this thread getting upvoted that I won’t even give the respect of directly responding to.

    • Flying SquidOP
      11•1 year ago

      Do you think maybe if you’re going to quote Hitler and not want to be seen as a Nazi, you shouldn’t use a quote which is ambiguous enough to make people think you’re a Nazi?