How Moms For Liberty is teaching its members to spin the media

A media training at the Moms for Liberty annual conference provided a rare look inside the effort to control the narrative.

PHILADELPHIA — Last week, a local Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty attracted attention for quoting Adolf Hitler in its newsletter. After the local paper reported the story, the group added additional “context” but kept the quote. Eventually, after it faced even more scrutiny, the organization removed the quote and apologized in a statement posted to its Facebook group.

That, however, was a big mistake, according to advice at the Moms for Liberty national conference’s media training session Friday. 

“Never apologize. Ever,” said Christian Ziegler, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “This is my view. Other people have different views on this. I think apologizing makes you weak.”

He advised the attendees to instead make it clear that the Hitler comment was “vile” but to immediately pivot to make the point that Hitler indoctrinated children in schools and that that’s what Moms for Liberty was fighting against. Ziegler warned that any apology would become the headline, so that should be avoided.

Christian Ziegler, pictured in 2018, led a media training session at the Moms for Liberty conference this week.Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP fileMoms for Liberty, which says it is nonpartisan, has grown into a conservative powerhouse, boasting 120,000 members in 285 chapters across 44 states. The group started in Brevard County, Florida, in 2021, initially to fight Covid restrictions and mask mandates.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/moms-liberty-teaching-members-spin-media-rcna92099

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