An Indiana Chapter of the “parental rights” group “Moms for Liberty” has issued an apology for quoting Adolf Hitler in their inaugural newsletter. No, you really can’t make this stuff up. It’s not exactly surprising though, considering that far-right American thought and Nazi thought have plenty of intersections these days. Consider Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor and sugar daddy of Clarence Thomas who has an entire collection of Nazi paraphernalia. One can also look at the example of Trump fanboy Kanye West, who recently went on Alex Jones’ show in order to spread the totally false claim that Hitler invented the highway and the microphone. Hitler did not do these things.
What Hitler DID do was say “he who owns the youth owns the future” and then proceeded to radicalize a generation of children with Nazi ideology in order to carry out one of the largest atrocities in human history. And in case you’re wondering, THAT QUOTE was the quote that Liberty Moms decided to feature in bold across the front page of their newspaper.
“We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history. We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and express our deepest apology” said Chairwoman Paige Miller in a statement to the Indianapolis Star. The quote was denounced by both Democrats and Republicans alike in Hamilton County where the offending chapter of Moms for Liberty is located. “Six million Jewish people lost their lives because of the rhetoric and ideals that were pushed by Hitler. We fought a global war — thousands of American service members lost their lives — to extinguish the type of hateful, anti-Semitic language and views promoted by Hitler” said Democratic Sen. J.D. Ford in a statement.
Ironically enough, this isn’t the first time that conservatives have gotten in trouble for quoting Hitler. Hell, it’s not even the first time Moms for Liberty has gotten in trouble for it. Additionally, Illinois Republican House member Mary Miller was lambasted for saying the exact same quote while speaking at a Trump rally organized by Moms For America. For some reason, the words of Adolf Hitler really seem to pluck at the heartstrings of far-right mothers. It isn’t surprising, considering Moms For Liberty also tweeted “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” I’m sure a quote like that would play well to the mothers of Nazi Germany who let their children join the Hitler Youth.
The national chapter of Moms For Liberty apologized for the quote but that hasn’t stopped right-wing grifters from coming out to defend it. After a Jewish man denounced the organization’s use of the quote, Moms For Liberty retweeted a tweet that called the man “foolish” for being offended by the tweet and said that he was “getting the intention backwards.” According to the original tweet’s author, “two minutes of honest reflection” would make the intentions behind the quote “clear”.
And I’ll say it’s clear all right. This isn’t a racist and antisemitic dog whistle, it’s a REGULAR WHISTLE BLASTING IN YOUR EAR. They even decided to feature Adolf Hitler’s NAME in the newsletter so it’s not like they didn’t know who they were citing. My favorite thing about this newsletter is the statement under the Hitler quote, which says they “will not be intimidated by hate groups”. GIRL, YOU ARE THE HATE GROUP.
Aside from spreading heartwarming quotes from genocidal maniacs, Moms For Liberty has also kept itself busy by attempting to get books banned from school libraries. I’m sure they had originally wanted to burn them like the Fuhrer they so idolize, but they seem to have settled (for now) for removing the books from shelves. They are attempting to empty libraries of all authors that are not white and cis in the name of “child safety,” and many of their leaders have been caught harassing teacher and librarians. They have even resorted to doxxing people, setting bounties on teachers, and have death threats in order to promote their twisted ideology. If you’d like to read more about their ghoulish activities, The Mary Sue features a menagerie of horrors detailing all the batshit things they do. One of my favorite quotes from this group was the time they said “not every human is deserving of my child’s empathy”. Because apparently some people are “less human” than others? Adolf Hitler would have loved these women, and I’m sure that they would have doted on him as well.
(featured image: Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
