Opinion

DeSantis’ Retreat Shows Moms for Liberty’s Influence Is Finally Waning

THE NEW ABNORMAL

It was no small thing for Ron DeSantis to call for the resignation of Florida Republican Party Chair Christian Ziegler.

opinion
A photo illustration of Ron DeSantis and the logo of Moms For Liberty.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters

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It was no small thing for Ron DeSantis to call for the resignation of Florida Republican Party Chair Christian Ziegler as he faces rape accusations from a woman claiming to have been in a three-way relationship with him and his wife, one of the co-founders of right-wing group Moms for Liberty.

That’s according to The New Abnormal hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie, who argue this week that DeSantis’ decision to abandon his onetime allies shows that Moms for Liberty’s influence over the Republican Party may finally be waning.

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“That Christian Ziegler and the Zieglers in general are being sort of pushed aside, or being told to step aside, so rapidly is a sign that Republicans, at least at some level, are realizing that this Moms for Liberty type of shit is just not paying off for them,” Levy said, while referencing a column on this topic by writer Amanda Marcotte in Salon.

“The last couple of elections have shown that a lot of the stuff that Moms for Liberty has been throwing out there, the sort of the fear that they've been able to gin up, is not resonating with a wide swath of America,” Levy added.

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Then, political strategist Michael Podhorzer stops by the podcast to “redirect some anxiety” about recent polls showing Donald Trump in a strong position for next year’s election.

“The polls right now literally tell us nothing we don’t already know about next November,” he said. “That’s because since 2016 we’ve been having the same election every two years.”

Plus! A conversation with writer Jonathan Katz about his most recent piece for The Atlantic, titled: “Substack has a Nazi problem.”

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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