By the time this election rolled around, Moms for Liberty seemed to have already realized their brand had become poisonous. As the Daily Beast reported, “In 2021, Moms for Liberty claimed credit for 33 seats in Bucks County,” but in this election cycle, the group “endorsed only a single candidate in the county.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that some Republican candidates wanted the group to keep its distance, fearful of the taint. And that was my sense of things in the Pennridge district this fall. School board members who had links to Moms for Liberty tried to downplay it and ended up getting outed by investigators from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

    • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
      72·
      1 year ago

      Moms for Liberty, a heavily funded astroturf organization linked to GOP leadership, wasn’t especially subtle in its strategies, pinpointing a handful of swing districts in purple states, like Virginia and Pennsylvania, and targeting school board elections, which are usually low turnout and easy to win. Once installed, Moms for Liberty members started banning books and Pride flags, as well as protesting that teachers were “grooming” kids with “smut,” which usually meant either a history book or acclaimed, age-appropriate fiction. The idea was to create moral panics around sex and race that could tip national elections towards Republicans.

      From the article.

      • tetris11
        4·
        1 year ago

        I read that too, but still wasn’t sure… though I guess there’s a ton of belief overlap that makes it obvious

    • blindbunnyEnglish
      35·
      1 year ago

      Pretty much. They came to Rio Rancho and were cussed out for even showing up. Something similar happened in Albuquerque as well. Except they weren’t considered a far right extremist organization by the southern poverty law center at the he time.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moms_for_Liberty

    • NataliePortland@lemmy.caEnglish
      26·
      1 year ago

      They’re more about banning books and rewriting history. I’m sure there’s overlap with being a Trump fan but I don’t think Trump is necessarily what it’s about. They’re trying to brainwash kids to think slavery is good and gays don’t exist and nonsense like that