EXCLUSIVE — PHILADELPHIA — Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice said left-wing groups are attacking her organization because the parental rights movement is a “threat” to the “balance of power” in education.
Justice sat down with the Washington Examiner at the 2023 Moms for Liberty “Joyful Warriors” National Summit in Philadelphia, where hundreds of parents gathered for a four-day convention featuring grassroots training sessions and speeches by prominent conservative figures, including former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL).
FIVE SUPREME COURT CASES TO WATCH WHEN JUSTICES RETURN FROM SUMMER RECESS
Moms for Liberty was recently labeled an “extremist group” by the activist organization Southern Poverty Law Center, a move that was roundly chided by Republican leaders and the mothers who volunteer in their local chapters across the country.
Justice, a mother of four and former school board member in Indian River County, Florida, said the Left is “coming for everyone,” which resulted in Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who had initially agreed to speak at the summit, being “bullied out of speaking.”
The summit was met by protesters outside, who called the group racist, bigoted, and white supremacist while handing out books on gay bunnies and transgender kindergartners.
“This effort to silence parents is extremely concerning,” Justice said, adding it was in line with the response parents received from government officials when speaking at school boards during the coronavirus lockdowns, where parents were “shut down, their mics were cut off, citizen input was canceled.”
Since the SPLC’s designation, Democratic politicians and legacy media outlets have intensified rhetoric, which, for Justice, means her group is making a difference.
“It just shows you that we are a threat; we’re disrupting the balance of power,” she said. “There are a lot of people that make a lot of money off of public education, specifically, the teachers unions, and I think that they’re gunning for us.”
“They’re lying about us left and right, and if you have to lie about us to try to hurt us, you’re already losing,” Justice added.
The Democratic National Committee also released a statement during the summit echoing SPLC talking points.
“Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy are celebrating the Fourth of July weekend with one of the nation’s most notorious anti-freedom, history-erasing, book-banning groups,” the statement read. “While President Biden and Vice President Harris are running to safeguard Americans’ rights and freedoms, MAGA Republicans are more concerned with catering to right-wing extremists than addressing the real issues that working families face.”
Justice called the statement “ridiculous,” saying it was “alienating a huge group of people” and that they invited Biden to speak but he declined.
“Democrats are not willing to engage in any type of debate or conversation,” she said. “This idea of marginalizing people who are having their voices heard in America is a mistake.”
“All parents have parental rights,” Justice continued, adding, “I just think it’s a matter of time before Democrats wake up and recognize the fact that they have parental rights, too.”
Moms for Liberty was started and gained prominence in the wake of several scandals involving teaching materials, school boards, the Department of Justice, and coronavirus protocols that have had detrimental developmental effects on American children.
The organization is focused on educating and training grassroots chapters to take on school officials at a local level in order to stop what many conservatives believe is an example of the government attempting to exert its influence on children behind the backs of parents.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The idea that somehow parents are getting involved in this for any other reason than to protect their children is crazy,” Justice said. “It’s really criminal, to be honest with you, the way that parents have been treated.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Kennedy’s campaign for comment.
