Standing Up To Lies & Hate Speech - McMorrow

Standing Up to Lies and Hate Speech

A moving example by Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow

Originally published in our Newsletter on April 27, 2022, now reprinted with an amazing update as of July 2022

The original article:

Along with lies and disinformation, hate speech has become a handy weapon in the Republican arsenal to attack Democratic politicians. Together, these smears label their opponents with untrue allegations. The goal is to disgust and exhaust voters to turn them away from voting.

In April, 2022, one Democratic politician -- Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow -- effectively called out disinformation and hate speech by speaking the truth in very plain English. She was not afraid of being emotional nor outraged.

In this incident, a Republican Senator in the Michigan legislature opened a session with a prayer alleging that young children were under assault in their schools -- not by guns -- but rather by liberal support for LBGTQ youth and policies supporting CRT. These were lies, of course, but geared to disgust parents who heard her words.

The Republican Senator then sent out fundraising communications accusing Democrats of being pedophiles and “groomers” of young children, and confusing children about their sexual identities. The communications specifically named Democratic Senator McMorrow in the allegations.

But McMorrow stood up to turn around these false charges by speaking to all the Senators on the floor of the Michigan Senate in April -- and her comments hit the mark:

“I didn’t expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd District had, overnight, accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising for herself.

“So I sat on it for a while wondering: Why me? And then I realized: Because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of ‘parental rights’ if another parent is standing up to say ‘NO’. . . .

“I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom [who wants] every kid to feel seen, heard and supported — not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white and Christian.”

McMorrow’s response continued to identify herself as a “straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom” to get the point across that she was so opposite of what the Republican Senator alleged. McMorrow closed with:

“I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen.”

The video of McMorrow’s speech racked up millions of views across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Plus a tweet thread from McMorrow about her remarks amassed some 74,000 retweets. Asked why her speech resonated for so many people, McMorrow said:

“There is a difference between politics and outright hate. I think people are frustrated that elected officials haven’t done enough to call that out, that maybe Democrats are afraid of talking about religion and faith openly and honestly and calling hate what it is. I think we have to.”

McMorrow also explained that accusations of grooming and pedophilia against Democrats are “straight out of the QAnon [conspiracy] playbook”. She also believes that weaponizing religion and Christianity is a right-wing strategy that destroys civil political discussions.

The Amazing July 2022 Update -- Poetic Justice!!

From her speech going viral, the articulate Senator McMorrow has collected $1 million from donors across all 50 states -- collecting at least $250,000 in just the first 24 hours after her speech went viral. On the other side -- the Republican Senator who spouted such disinformation collected only $235 total on her fundraising communication. 

In this case, it was well-deserved poetic justice.