It looks like the extremist activists behind Moms for Liberty are attempting to regroup and potentially rebrand after several political candidates they backed just lost.
In Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and elsewhere, Moms for Liberty-backed candidates lost races for state legislatures and school boards in last week’s elections, signaling a widespread rejection of right-wing education policies focused on restricting lessons about social inequality.
But on the heels of its losses, Moms for Liberty seems to see fertile ground in Georgia, where the group just hosted a town hall. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported: “Moms for Liberty is relatively new to Georgia but trying to expand. The organization’s website lists five chapters in the state: Chattooga, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall and Oconee counties.”
At Monday’s town hall in Atlanta, Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich claimed that her organization is merely focused on “parental rights.”
“All that other garbage you’re hearing in the news about us — they’re lies,” Descovich said.
Attacks on media and teachers unions were plentiful during the town hall. Rep. Mesha Mainor, the Democrat-turned-Republican who controversially switched her party affiliation during her term, took part and baselessly claimed that pressure from teachers unions was “the only reason” Democrats had voted against a conservative educational policy. Another Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, accused the Journal-Constitution of fearmongering about conservatives’ educational assault, saying: “The AJC tells the story that ‘Oh, you just want to lock librarians in jail.’ No, I just don’t want my kids given pornography in school.” Here, Dolezal was trotting out a right-wing line of attack that Joy dispelled on “The ReidOut” back in May. But all this kvetching was illustrative of the group’s sordid state of affairs. Moms for Liberty is arguably in its weakest political position since its 2021 launch. But instead of changing any of its extremist stances, the group’s leaders and legislative backers are blaming everyone but themselves.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
