Jen Psaki exposes Moms for Liberty’s extremist anti-LGBTQ+ agenda

On the most recent episode of her MSNBC show, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki devoted a segment to exposing the right-wing extremist agenda of the anti-LGBTQ+ organization Moms for Liberty.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the frequent chaos and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric at school board meetings nationwide and efforts to ban books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color, you’re already well aware of what Moms for Liberty stands for.

Related:

SPLC names Moms for Liberty an “extremist” group for their anti-LGBTQ+ activism

SPLC said the hate group is “at the forefront” of the “mobilization” of right-wing extremist groups claiming to fight for “parents’ rights.”

But as Psaki noted on the July 16 episode of Inside with Jen Psaki, the organization claims to be non-partisan. That, along with the group’s misleading and innocuous-sounding name, has left many people confused about Moms for Liberty’s agenda — even after they themselves get involved with the group.

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“Moms: great, sounds good. Liberty: awesome, who doesn’t like liberty? ‘Moms for Liberty.’ As the mom of two young kids, that even sounds good to me,” Psaki said. “But it’s vague enough, that even some of its own members are pretty unclear as to what the group is really all about, what they’re a part of.”

“Well, I’m here to help,” she continued. “Because as benign as Moms for Liberty may sound, its agenda is unmistakably extreme.”

She went on to catalog the group’s tactics and causes, including leading the movement to ban books, turning school board meetings into screaming matches, and intimidating both local officials and others in their communities.

“Chapters and members across the country have led campaigns targeting community advocates, school board members, and opposing groups,” Psaki explained. “They’ve repeatedly sent intimidating messages, openly threatened officials, and even baselessly leveled charges of child abuse and sympathizing with pedophilia.”

She also noted that one Indiana chapter infamously included an Adolph Hitler quote in a newsletter. The group apologized but later defended the inclusion of the quote.

Psaki also demolished Moms for Liberty’s claim that it is a nonpartisan organization. “Consider this,” she said. “One of the founders, whose name is notably omitted from its website, is a current Republican school board member who is married to the now-chairman of the Florida Republican Party. In 2021, he told the Washington Post, ‘I have been trying for a dozen years to get 20- and 30-year-old females involved with the Republican Party. But now Moms for Liberty has done it for me.’”

She also noted early in the segment that the group recently hosted five Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, at its annual summit in Philadelphia.

“So, below the surface of their friendly-sounding name, and politically vague taglines,” Psaki concluded, “they’re an unapologetically extreme organization that has built a long record of harassment and controversy, in a pretty short period of time.”