When confronted with basic questions on “60 Minutes,” the group appeared ill-prepared and stumped and alleged their critics were trying to “marginalize us.”
Since its founding in 2021, the conservative organization Moms for Liberty has billed itself as a champion for “parents’ rights,” pushing campaigns across the country to ban books and the use of pronouns in schools. Their crusade, as my colleague Kiera Butler has reported, often alleges that educators, specifically in public education, are out to “groom” and “indoctrinate” kids.
But what, exactly, does that mean? It doesn’t appear as though Moms for Liberty knows either.
In an interview with 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley that aired on Sunday night, the group’s two co-founders repeatedly struggled to explain their platform beyond empty talking points that have fueled the culture war in schools. They also failed to present facts to back up various claims.
Moms for Liberty was already on the way to dying out. Wait a year or two, though, and another org like them will pop up. Conservatives need to keep repackaging the same bad ideas because they think the messaging was the problem, not that the idea is bad.
Back in the 70s, Anita Bryant was saying:
All the same “grooming children” lies as Moms for Liberty today. They have no new playbook, and they’ll keep using it under a new name.
Fortunately, they’ve also been getting less effective with each iteration. Moms for Liberty basically imploded after a few electoral successes.
Who would have thought calm, outlandishly dressed people would be more effective than calmly dressed, outlandishly behaved people?
Honestly I think it’s more about generating more Republican voters however “they” can. I would not in the slightest bit be surprised to find moms for liberty was some form of a “Koch funded” (not specifically that family though) enterprise that only has the aim of spreading propaganda that will trick more people into voting Republican to “save the children.”
The people actually joining and pushing this will more than likely be people that really think they’re doing the right thing, but I think the inception of this program was purely for political power.