Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), as well as other Florida lawmakers, penned a letter to President Joe Biden (D) regarding the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) decision to label the Florida-based group, Moms for Liberty, an “extremist group.”
Moms for Liberty’s motivation stems from “a desire to stand up for parental rights at all levels of government.” Their merchandise comprises t-shirts with quotes from John Adams as well as shirts that say “We do not co-parent with the government.”
They also sell a “Madison Meetup Package,” which includes pocket-size versions of the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution.
According to Sen. Rubio, an SPLC director met with John Picarelli, the National Security Council counterterrorism director.
This interaction has led some Florida Republican legislators to believe that the White House influenced the SPLC to take action against the group.
“SPLC’s bad-faith designation of Moms for Liberty, as well as other parental rights groups, should come as no surprise, as SPLC is a corrupt and vicious tool of progressive radicals seeking to label individuals and groups with whom they disagree as hateful and/or extremist,” wrote the lawmakers.
They would go on to mention that the Biden administration has a history of “targeting concerned parents” regarding local governments’ decisions surrounding their children’s education.
“SPLC’s designation also follows your administration's actions to target concerned parents for scrutinizing decisions from local education leaders. And indeed, there is reason to suspect your administration has been coordinating with SPLC on this matter,” the legislators stated.
Finally, they posed the question of whether the Biden administration agrees with the SPLC’s decision to label Moms for Liberty as an “extremist group.”
“Does the administration agree with SPLC that parental rights groups should be labeled ‘extremist groups?’ Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response.”
Joining Sen. Rubio were Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), as well as Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Greg Steube (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Byron Donalds (R-FL).
