Trump, DeSantis To Speak at Moms For Liberty Summit

Facts

• A slate of high-profile GOP figures, including many 2024 US presidential hopefuls, are expected to speak at the annual conference of conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty this Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia.¹
• The two-year-old group has reportedly grown to over 115K members in 45 states, attributing much of its growth to its educational advocacy, which includes opposition to teaching LGBTQ+ issues, critical race theory, and allegedly pornographic material in schools.²
• While the Southern Poverty Label Center labeled Moms for Liberty an "extremist" anti-LGBTQ+ group, its conference this weekend will be attended by five GOP presidential candidates: Former Pres. Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, and Vivek Ramaswamy.³
• Moms For Liberty has stated that it will not endorse a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, while local chapter leaders have met frequently with various candidates, a kind of influence observers say is rare for an education pressure group.⁴
• On Thursday, a group of around 100 protestors picketed the Museum of the American Revolution, where a Moms for Liberty reception was scheduled. The event was held as planned.¹
• DeSantis already addressed the group earlier on Friday, with Trump slated to speak later that same day. Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was also set to make an appearance but changed plans after learning about the organization's LGBTQ+ stance.⁵

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²New York Times, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Washington Post, and ⁵Reuters.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. Parents in this country are rising against bureaucrats who think they can raise their children better than them, and their meteoric rise has only shown the resonance of their message, cutting across racial and geographic lines. Their movement isn't about targeting any specific group in the country but about reaffirming that parents object to the woke agenda that has infiltrated the public education system.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by The Morning Call. There's no mistake about what Moms for Liberty stands for: The censorship of issues they find unsavory, particularly around racial and sexual minorities. This group is nothing but a front for the GOP's hateful agenda, which masks its true intentions behind "parent's rights." It's very telling that every major candidate is lining up to get in their good graces.