WASHINGTON — Today, Donald Trump will keynote the “Joyful Warriors” summit for Moms for Liberty, a scandal plagued, Southern Poverty Law Center designated “extremist” group that made its name pushing for students to be taught anti-LGBTQ+, racist, and white nationalist views in the classroom. Their leadership and membership have long sought to bully LGBTQ+ children and their families, whether through advocacy for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation at the state level or the promotion of book bans that are deeply unpopular with parents of all political stripes. The group also has deep ties to white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys and the chief authors of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation. In short, Donald Trump makes perfect sense as their keynote.

Much like the former president, Moms for Liberty’s political agenda is also falling flat with voters across the country. Just last week in Florida school board elections, Moms for Liberty endorsed candidates suffered embarrassing losses, in the latest failed election night for the organization. According to Brookings, fewer than one-third of school board candidates backed by Moms for Liberty in 2023 won their elections, including high profile losses in red to purple states like Iowa, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Ohio.

Orlando Gonzales, Senior Vice President of HRC Equality Votes PAC, made the following statement:

For more background on Moms for Liberty ahead of Trump’s appearance, read below.

ELECTION LOSSES

• • Among The 14 Candidates Moms For Liberty Endorsed In The Florida School Board Primary, Only Three Won. “The poor results of school board candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in this month's primary raised questions about whether the governor's influence could be on the wane. He might not be alone. Since his endorsements mirrored those of Moms for Liberty - they jointly targeted several incumbents for defeat - several observers suggested the organization that some have labeled a hate group had reached its limit, too…Among the 14 candidates that Moms for Liberty backed statewide, three won, six lost and five headed to November runoffs. Their candidates lost in counties where the group's endorsed candidates cruised into office two years ago.” [Tampa Bay Times, 8/23/24]
  • Brookings: A Moms For Liberty Endorsement Can Prompt Voters To Oppose A Candidate. “Jon Valant of the Brookings Institution, who has analyzed the influence of Moms for Liberty since 2022, said the group's success rate has diminished over time as its brand "has grown more toxic as the organization has become better known." It's gotten to the point, Valant said, where a Moms for Liberty endorsement can prompt voters to oppose that candidate.” [Tampa Bay Times, 8/23/24]
  • Brookings: Fewer Than One-Third Of School Board Candidates Endorsed By Moms For Liberty Won Their Election. “By our count, a total of 54 of the 166 candidates that M4L publicly endorsed in 2023 won their elections. That’s a 33% win rate. Figure 1 shows the win rates for calendar years 2022 and 2023, overall and disaggregated by characteristics of the counties in which these candidates ran.”... M4L has become such a polarizing brand—through its abrasive rhetoric, extreme policy positions, and most recently, a sex scandal involving one of the group’s co-founders—that some candidates might find being associated with M4L brings out more votes for the opposing candidate than for themselves. [Brookings, 3/2/24]

TIES TO WHITE NATIONALISTS AND HATE GROUPS

• • Moms For Liberty Was Linked To White Nationalist Militias And Extremist Groups. “It’s not just Proud Boys that Moms for Liberty has allegedly gotten involved with, however. A VICE News investigation has uncovered links between numerous Moms for Liberty chapters and extremist groups like the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, sovereign citizen groups, QAnon conspiracist, Christian nationalists, and in one case, with the founder of the AK-47-worshiping Rod of Iron Ministries church in Pennsylvania. Around the country, Moms for Liberty has formed links with extremist groups and militias, which are joining forces with the “parental rights” group at protests and school board meetings, and in turn pushing the already far-right organization toward even more extreme ideology. “There's an ongoing campaign by these neo-Nazi groups to radicalize some of these more benign patriot MAGA groups—and it's working because I've seen more Nazi content creeping into posts from Moms for Liberty people recently,” a researcher, who is known as Trash City, and who closely tracks Moms for Liberty activity, told VICE News earlier this month.” [Vice, 6/20/23]
  • Moms For Liberty Protested Proposal To Recognize LGBTQ History Month Alongside The Proud Boys And Christian Family Coalition. “Outside the school board’s headquarters, where people waited to speak during the meeting, a group of Proud Boys got into a loud argument with someone hoisting a trans flag, the Miami Herald reported. “I do believe that this is a result of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and culture wars coming out of the legislature and the governor’s office," Baez-Geller told NBC News on Thursday morning. She said despite the fact that there was a "barrage of police" between the Proud Boys and people inside the building, she still felt unsafe. The conservative groups Moms for Liberty and the Christian Family Coalition were among others who showed up to protest the measure, she said.” [Associated Press, 9/8/22]
  • Florida Moms For Liberty Chapter Head Who Called For School District To Remove Anne Frank Book Appeared On Podcast With Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theorist. “ Florida organizer of the right-wing activist group Moms For Liberty who successfully pressed her school district to remove a version of Anne Frank’s diary recently appeared on a livestream banned from YouTube because of its pastor host’s antisemitism. Jennifer Pippen, who chairs the group’s chapter in Indian River County, Florida, appeared in September on the show TruNews, which is hosted by End Times preacher Rick Wiles. Wiles is a conspiracy theorist who has claimed that Jews and Zionists have “attacked Christian culture” and railed against the “Jewish lobby” and “Kabbalah wizard rabbis.” [Jerusalem Post, 10/31/23]

SCANDALS

• After a sex scandal came to light, Bridget Ziegler, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, faced calls to resign from the local school board and her husband was ousted as chair of the Republican Party of Florida.
• Last year, an Indiana Moms for Liberty chapter was forced to apologize after it quoted Adolf Hitler on the front cover of a newsletter to members. The brazen use of a Hitler quote came even as Moms For Liberty works to block children across the country from learning about slavery, the Holocaust, important figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., and the existence of LGBTQ+ people.
• Despite claiming to be “defenders of children,” Moms For Liberty was rocked when it was revealed that Pennsylvania chapter coordinator Phillip Fisher Jr. was a “registered sex offender, due to a 2012 felony conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when Fisher was 25.”