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
    0•1 year ago

    TLDR: If you find yourself defending the person hyperbolically calling for genocide against the person condemning it. It might be time to ask yourself “Are we the baddies?”

    I can’t bring myself to give an actual example. But imagine this scenario, I’m hanging out with a couple of work colleagues. Let’s call them fixtionalJake and BroBroBro. Now were just chatting something comes up about all the vandalism that black people did during the BLM protest and fixtionalJake makes an obviously hyperbolic comment proposing that all black people should get murdered or that their ancestors should have. But the comment is a little bit indirect, and clearly absurdly impossible to implement. BroBroBro is laughing along.

    I’m standing there thinking, that is some seriously messed up racist stuff right there. For sure fixtionalJake is a least a little bit racist, but maybe he didn’t quite understand how it came across.

    So I say dude that was f’ed up that the most racist thing I ever heard, what the hell is wrong with you? His response is: “I’m not gonna get caught by this dumb rhetoric, if someone commits a crime, you put them in jail don’t you?”

    Everyone in the company up to the vice precident smile, and agrees. BroBroBro, knows which the tide is turning and he wants to fit in, so he adds: “Yeah dufus, that thing he said is obviously impossible to do, what are you, ‘stupid’?”

    I suspect that if you were in my place you would just conclude that both those guys and pretty much the entire company are at the very list raging racist assholes.

    But not me, I have faith in humanity. Yes, every single thing they’ve done is consistent with raging racist assholes. It’s even consistent with the behavior of people who are genuinely hoping to find a way to genocide every black person.

    But BroBroBRo’s behavior is also consistent with that of someone who’s just a little bit clueless and just a little bit too desperate to fit in. It’s probably consistent with many other kinds of behavior.

    fixtionalJake is 99% chance a raging racist asshole, but maybe not really a genocidal one though. I mean he could, but it’s also possible that he’s not.

    Either way, I’m quitting my job, working triple time for the competition at half pay. Just in case. just to make sure they don’t get the to snowball the funds to actually do it.

    And that’s how I justify my behavior of posting all over this thread. Just in case. I want everyone to understand that indiscriminately killing all far right wingers is an abhorrent and evil thing to do. And I don’t want this to be a place where you can dog-whistle-advocate for such killings without getting called out on it.

    • @BraBraBra
      3•1 year ago

      It occurs to me there is no precedent for you to infer genocide from this joke, though. Sherman committed no genocide.

      • Dienervent
        1•1 year ago

        If I learned anything from playing Civilzation, even when you win a neighoring 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.

        That’s genocide.

        • @BraBraBra
          1•1 year ago

          That’s not what he suggested to be done in real life. That’s a point about being unable to strike a balance between two groups who do not see eye to eye. His only real life suggestion was that a general should’ve continue his efforts further towards the sea. That’s not genocide, that’s simply war.

          • Dienervent
            1•1 year ago

            That’s a point about being unable to strike a balance between two groups who do not see eye to eye.

            Yes, it’s a fundamental problem of life. Some people suggest compromise. Some people suggest a different kind of solution. A “final” solution so to speak.

            Now you read this quote again and you tell me: Which of these solution does he suggest is best?

            If I learned anything from playing Civilzation, even when you win a neighoring 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.

            • @BraBraBra
              1•1 year ago

              He was speaking in context of the game.

    • @BraBraBra
      1•1 year ago

      No one is calling for actual genocide. You’re condemning a joke, not the actual act. It’s not that serious, thus I truly can’t bring myself to read this fully.

      Your hypothetical is racist. I would take issue with the racism.