WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to appear Friday at the annual meeting of Mothers for Freedoma national non-profit organization that is leading efforts to remove attention to LGBTQ+ identity and structural racism from primary and secondary education classrooms.
In a “fireside chat” in the nation’s capital, the former president will try to drum up support and enthusiasm among a large portion of his base. The majority of the group’s 130,000-plus members are conservatives who agree with him that Parents should have more say in public education and that racial equity programs and transgender services have no place in schools.
But Trump will also risk alienating more moderate voters, many of whom Moms for Liberty Activism as too extreme be legitimized by a presidential candidate.
A year ago, Moms for Liberty was seen by many as a emerging power player in conservative politics that could be crucial to the Republican ticket’s support. The group’s membership surged after its launch in 2021, fueled by parents protesting mandatory masks for students and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But in recent months there has been a series embarrassing scandals And disappointing performance in local elections have questioned the influence of Moms for Liberty.
The group has also expressed its support for Project2025a detailed and controversial playbook for the next conservative presidency, from which Trump has repeatedly distanced himself.
Moms for Liberty is a member of the advisory board for Project 2025, and the author of the education chapter in the document is giving a “strategy session” at the group’s meeting on Friday.
The negative perception of Moms for Liberty across the country could increase potential liability for Trump as he speaks with co-founder Tiffany Justice on Friday night, said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.
“It certainly helps him mobilize his base,” Jewett said. “But will that be enough to overcome the backlash?”
Trump has not yet released details about what he will discuss at the meeting, but his campaign team pointed to his proposals on education, including promoting school choice, giving parents more say in education and giving states and school districts priority to end teacher tenure, financially reward good teachers and give parents the ability to directly elect school principals.
He has also called for abolishing the Department of Education, banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports and defunding schools that broadcast “inappropriate racial, sexual or political content.”
“President Trump believes that students should learn to read, write and do math in the classroom — not based on gender, sex and race, as the Biden administration is forcing on our public school system,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national spokesperson.
Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has criticized Trump for his threats to dismantle the Department of Education. She has also spoken out against efforts to restrict racially-related curriculum content.
Before leaving for Washington on Friday, the Republican nominee will hold a rally in Johnstown, a western Pennsylvania town once dominated by riverfront steel mills whose economy has suffered in the decades since they closed. Trump held a rally at the Johnstown airport weeks before the 2020 election, boasting, “We brought back steel, and we put tariffs on steel.”
According to his campaign, Trump will use the meeting to promise lower energy costs and criticize Harris, noting that as the 2019 Democratic presidential candidate she had a ban on hydraulic fracturingHarris’ campaign now says she does not support a ban on fracking.
Both parties have been campaigning heavily in Pennsylvania. Harris will be in Pittsburgh on Monday for Labor Day, where she will make her first joint campaign appearance with President Joe Biden since he abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed her. Harris has not said much about her policy plans on tariffs and trade, but Biden has taken a page from Trump’s playbook and made a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel.
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