Former President Donald Trump told conservative mothers on Friday that he “fully supports parental rights” after blasting the school board, saying he felt it was being run “like a dictatorship.”
Trump, 78, made the remarks at the annual “Moms for Liberty” conference in Washington, D.C., organized by the influential parent-rights group of the same name, which has 310 chapters and 130,000 members in 48 states.
“We have parents who end up in fist fights at school meetings. They mean well, but they end up being arrested and put in jail,” Trump said during a chat with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, referring to brawls that have erupted during school board meetings across the country in recent years over transgender rights and school curriculum.
“I fully support parental rights,” the Republican presidential candidate declared. “I can't even comprehend the concept that there aren't parental rights.” [for parental rights].”
“And these school boards are becoming like dictatorships and parents are screaming for their children's lives. And it has a lot to do with transgender, it has to do with so many other things,” Trump continued.
“To my parents [rights]”Parents really love their children,” he argued, “and I think some of the committee members don't really like children that much…. Rights have to be given back to the parents.”
The former president accused the Harris-Biden administration of being the “antithesis” of upholding parental rights in education.
“This administration is going after people like the FBI is insurrection,” Trump said. “It's crazy.”
The former president appeared to be referring to the White House's apparent engagement with the National Association of School Boards before the association sent a memo in October 2021 calling on the Harris-Biden administration to investigate outspoken parents and likening them to domestic terrorists.
That same month, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the FBI would lead the law enforcement response to an alarming spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.
“President Trump, they called us domestic terrorists for speaking out at a School Committee meeting,” Justice told the former president.
“Well, I'm going to change that on day one, I promise you that,” Trump vowed.
“It just makes you wonder where the mindset is to take away parental rights,” he added.
During the hour-long event, Trump indicated he would enact rules banning transgender women from participating in girls' sports and restricting gender-change medical procedures, suggesting it was “common sense.”
“I like to say we're the party of common sense,” Trump said. “All the things we're talking about, banning men from women's sports, banning gender-specific surgeries. I mean, we have these surgeries. It's insanity.”
“Europe has completely moved away from sex-change surgery,” he said of the procedure. “Now we're way behind them. They're not doing it anymore, which is really terrible. But who can believe this is happening?”
