MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace compared Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia to Russian soldiers raping kids during a Wednesday segment of “Deadline: White House.”
Wallace accused DeSantis and Youngkin of “dehumanization” through their successful passage of parental rights legislation and executive orders, which she called a “tactic of war.”
“I worry [that] in covering Glenn Youngkin and his politics of parental choice, all of the focus was on how well it worked,” she said. “And even in our conversations about DeSantis, it’s about how well they’re serving him. The truth is, dehumanization as a tactic for politics, is from war. Dehumanization is a tactic that we’re speaking of right now. Russians get their soldiers to rape children by dehumanizing them. Dehumanization, as a practice, is a tactic of war.”
“It’s being deployed in our politics and people like you and I sometimes lose the plot and admire its effect on not its substance, but even the analysis of these tactics loses sight of what this speech brings us back to which is that dehumanization has a cost, right now, right now as it’s being deployed.”
Wallace then quoted the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Chasten, who said Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill will kill children. The legislation, signed by DeSantis in late March, prevents classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 and require school districts to notify parents if there are changes to their child’s health, except in cases of child abuse. (RELATED: Juan Williams Claims ‘Parents’ Rights’ Is Code For White Supremacists)
Bulwark writer-at-large Tim Miller agreed, arguing that these policies are having an impact on LGBTQ parents, teachers and students. He mentioned a gay teacher in Dallas, Texas, who is allegedly at risk of their job for objecting to the school removing rainbow stickers from the classroom due to being a “political statement.”
“You’re gonna see examples of this, of real families,” he said. “Teachers who are being harmed, who can’t talk about their families. Kids who are being bullied, kids who are depressed, maybe self harm to Chasten’s point. There are going to be real life examples of this.”
Youngkin has been a major proponent of parents’ rights both in his gubernatorial campaign and since assuming office in January. The governor signed an executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in the classroom. He joined a lawsuit with parents suing the Loudoun County School Board for defying the order.
