by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 8, 2023) — While passionately arguing over the years for “medical freedom” and parental authority over health-agency diktats affecting children’s health, particularly when it comes to vaccines, Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. declined to speak at the recent “Moms for Liberty” National Summit and reportedly made false claims about the group during a recent townhall.
The 501(c)(4) organization held its annual conference June 29 through July 2 in Philadelphia under the banner of “Rocking the Cradle of Liberty.” Founded in 2021 by two former school board members from Florida, Moms for Liberty has expanded its reach to 38 states with more than 100,000 members, according to a video on its website. The group’s motto is, “We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT,” while its mission is “to organize, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children in America,” co-founder Tiffany Justice told Steve Bannon in an interview on “War Room” Friday. “If you’re making decisions for your children’s healthcare, you deserve honest information…Why would anyone want a parent to be making a decision and be ill-informed in that process? As far as school choice is concerned, we believe in education freedom…The fact that we have children that are trapped in failing schools, and the teachers’ unions and the federal government are totally ignoring this, is criminal…”
She decried the low academic achievement levels in schoolchildren today, particularly in the area of reading, despite “$800 billion” spent “this year” on education. “Social justice” instruction, she said, should be replaced with “teach[ing] the kids how to read.”
In addressing school boards, MFL members have expressed concern over issues such as mask and vaccine mandates, an “imbalance of power” between school boards and parents, “graphic content” and inaccurate history in school curricula, and “a biased political agenda” singling out alleged “oppressors.”
Several presidential candidates delivered remarks over the four-day conference, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley. Four state education officials were also on the list of speakers.
Turning to the news coverage he had seen of the summit and what he had heard regarding a clash between Kennedy and MFL, Bannon asked Justice to explain what occurred. “I thought it was really important to have him come as a speaker,” she replied. During the height of the pandemic, she said, “A lot of our moms had been involved and curious about medical freedom…” and “…Robert Kennedy, Children’s Health Defense was a place that they went for information…This isn’t a partisan issue, this idea of parental rights.”
An invitation to speak was also extended to Joe Biden, she said, with “no response from the White House.”
Justice told Bannon that after reaching out to RFK’s campaign multiple times, “He called me on my cell phone at night in my home, and we had a good conversation, and I think there were votes in the room for him at the summit.”
While RFK initially accepted her invitation, Justice said, he later canceled, citing “family commitments.” Later, however, she said he “lied” about her organization.
A replay of a NewsNation townhall featuring Kennedy shows a member of the audience claiming to have worked closely with Kennedy’s uncle, the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, berating the candidate for having initially accepted MFL’s invitation. The NewsNation clip begins at 5:39 in the Bannon interview.
Kennedy responded to the questioner that he “made a mistake” by accepting the invitation and defended himself by citing his cancellation of the engagement.
The participant called upon to ask Kennedy a question was identified as “James from Charleston” and CEO of a “social-media consulting firm” characterizing MFL as a “right-wing group that would like to tell other parents how to do their own children.”
While praising the late Sen. Kennedy as an exemplary advocate for the “LGBTQ” community, “James” criticized RFK Jr. for having “agreed to speak before a group that wants to ban my marriage and tell other parents how to treat their children.”
In a roundabout reply during which he claimed a staffer accepted the invitation on his behalf, Kennedy said when he “found out that there was their [MFL’s] position, I declined to go.”
He went on to state he takes a strong position on “LGBTQ rights” and those of “Americans” in general. “I made a mistake by accepting that invitation, and when I found out those positions, I did not show up,” he concluded his response.
“Would you denounce what they stand for?” “James” countered, with moderator Elizabeth Vargas repeating the question to Kennedy when he indicated he did not hear it.
Kennedy stopped short of a “denunciation.”
Justice responded to the clip by telling Bannon that MFL does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sexual orientation and that Kennedy’s claim was “untrue.” He could have called her to obtain her views on the issue, she added.
“We need strong leaders in America, and at a time in our country when parents are looking for someone to stand up for the truth and to have our backs, it was really disappointing to see Mr. Kennedy fold in this way,” she told Bannon. Moreover, she said, an MFL member and previously “big supporter” of Kennedy and CHD observed to her that “what he did to Moms for Liberty is exactly what the medical establishment has done to moms.”
RFK Jr. folded and he will fold; he is not the leader type. Dems will not accept him as a POTUS candidate. RFK Jr. is spinning his wheels running for POTUS—he is turning into a distraction. He should either go 100% MAGA or stick to informing the public of the dangers of vaccines.