MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough claimed Friday that Republicans are attempting to make white, Christian suburban moms opposing parental rights legislation “the other” in the ongoing culture war.
Scarborough argued Republicans pushing parental rights legislation accuse anyone in opposition of their agenda of supporting pedophilia, including White, Christian suburban mothers. The host referenced a Tuesday speech by Democratic Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who pointed to her identity as a mother and Christian to argue that she and her colleagues want to protect children, not indoctrinate them, through education policies.
“Now, what are they doing? They’re desperate to make white, Christian, suburban moms the other,” Scarborough said on Friday’s episode of “Morning Joe.” “So how do they do it? Because they can’t call a Michigan senator who is a white, Christian, suburban mom the other by her lifestyle, by her upbringing, as they do with Hispanics, as they do with Muslims, as they do with black Americans. So what do they do? They accuse her of pedophilia. And they’re not only doing it to her, they’re doing it to other members of Congress across Michigan, across Florida, across America. That’s their new other.”
“Agree with Donald Trump, be on our side of the culture war, or you support pedophilia. It is sickening,” he concluded.
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Republican Michigan state Sen. Lana Theis reportedly alleged in a fundraising email that McMorrow is “outraged” Democrats cannot “groom and sexualize kindergarteners or that 8-year-olds are responsible for slavery.” (RELATED: Democratic Rep. Suozzi Breaks From Liberal Herd On Florida’s Parental Rights Bill)
David Remnick, an editor for The New Yorker, said their messaging in the culture war “works,” claiming Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin succeeded politically in pushing back against the “hot button” issue critical race theory. Remnick also called on President Joe Biden to fight against Republicans in the culture war.
“Why is Glenn Youngkin in the position that he’s in now?” Remnick said. “Because of his incredibly subtle analysis of the economics of Virginia? No, it’s because he exploited a hot button culture war, complete nonsense issue, critical race theory in the schools, which doesn’t exist. And it put him over the top, he won.”
Partisan conflict has arisen in response to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-3 grades and requires school districts to notify parents of changes to their child’s physical, mental and emotional health, except in cases of child abuse.
Disney came out in opposition to the bill signed into law March 28 by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling for it to be repealed or stuck down in the courts. The state’s lawmakers passed legislation Thursday that would eliminate Disney’s special tax districts, which have been in place due to the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act.