Moms for Liberty had a chance to explain themselves. It didn't go well.
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.
Oh, I think they can precisely articulate exactly what they're angry about if you let them, but they know if they do that in public it'll show just how crazy, hateful, ignorant, and bigoted they are. What they're struggling with is how to articulate what they're angry about in a way that doesn't immediately expose them as a modern-day KKK for LGBT+ folk.
Can't spew hate towards black people. That's racist. But hating an "urban youth" or "thug" is totes devoid of any racial bias.
Exactly and if you say that they’ll call you racist for picturing a black person. As though anyone has ever meant a group of white kids in khakis and polos when saying this shit. Incidentally the young people who scare the hell out of me are exactly that, they look and sound like they would’ve been at Charlottesville.
This is exactly the problem. They’re trying to find a way to dog whistle in a world that’s increasingly aware of their bullshit. They’re running out of frequencies that the rest of us can’t hear.