PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) leaned into the education culture wars on Friday while courting hundreds of members of the Moms for Liberty group, a conservative organization that has gained in membership since its inception two years ago.
DeSantis, who received several standing ovations, said it was not the responsibility of the schools to "supersede the rights of parents," adding that "parents have a fundamental right to direct the education and upbringing of their children."
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He also ticked off a list of conservative wins in his state, including the growth of charter schools, transparency in the curriculum, eliminating Common Core, rooting out "social-emotional learning," and "rejecting textbooks that have ideological indoctrination."
"Parents have had to blow the whistle on inappropriate material in our schools," he said, citing books that he claimed had "hardcore porn" in them.
"To use tax dollars to bring in that type of garbage into our schools is fundamentally wrong, and it has no place," he said to applause.
DeSantis slammed transgender athletes and also claimed, "We're not doing the pronoun Olympics in Florida."
The Republican governor and Moms for Liberty, which formed less than three years ago, have had a tight relationship from the start.
The group was founded in 2021 by Tiffany Justice, Tina Descovich, and Bridget Ziegler and has led the recent culture war against school boards. They've shown up at meetings, raged against books that reference race and gender identity, and accused public school teachers of trying to indoctrinate students.
The group has credited DeSantis for its early momentum and rise after the Republican governor signed Florida's "Bill of Rights" in 2021, which bolstered the group's reach and popularity.
A year later, DeSantis signed a law barring instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade. That measure, the “Don’t Say Gay” law, was expanded in April to include all grade levels.
"Our Florida moms began referring to Governor DeSantis as the 'Parent's Governor' over two years ago when he stepped up to protect children in Florida from (COVID vaccine) mandates, masks, and harmful ideologies in schools," Moms for Liberty said, adding that DeSantis has "protected kids from gender ideology in schools."
There have been other overlaps as well.
One of the group's co-founders, Ziegler, is married to the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. DeSantis recently appointed Ziegler to a commission overseeing Disney’s Orlando theme parks amid a battle between DeSantis and Disney over the state’s law banning classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The founders are also all current or former school board members in Florida who supported the governor's hands-off COVID-19 policies.
Despite faring better with independent voters than former President Donald Trump, DeSantis has spent much of his campaign leaning heavily into culture war issues and has repeatedly slammed candidates, government officials, school boards, and more for being "too woke."
DeSantis was the headliner at last year's Moms for Liberty summit but will face competition this year.
His rivals in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will also make their pitches to Moms for Liberty members.
Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are all slated to talk at the event.
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As DeSantis's speech got underway inside the Philadelphia Marriott, a group of protesters had gathered outside. There have been at least nine protests planned around the city in opposition to the conference.
"Now you know what it's like to be me," DeSantis told the audience.