Mallory McMorrow is a lot of things: mom, Michigan state senator, surburbanite, Christian. One thing that she isn’t: a groomer.
She made that very clear in a viral speech given on the Michigan Senate floor in response to an email sent out by Michigan Sen. Lana Theis that calls McMorrow a “groomer” who is “supporting pedophilia and wanting 8-year-olds to believe they were responsible for slavery.”
McMorrow joined co-host Molly Jong-Fast for this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to talk about the events leading up to that speech—in which she calls out Republican lawmakers for drumming up hate against the LGBTQ community and allies who support them—and what she felt while giving it.
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“What really pushed me too far was this idea that the current GOP somehow speaks in a unanimous voice for moms, for parents, for Christians. And I just had enough,” she says. “[The speech] was for me taking my own identity back.”
She tells Molly that she acknowledges that her speech was able to break through the noise because “number one, I’m mad,” but also because of her privilege as a straight, white, Christian woman.
“I wanted to speak for every other, frankly, non-marginalized, white, suburban mom who is otherwise fine and say, this is enough. This has gone way too far. We can get mad about it and point out that it’s also a deflection. So whether or not you’re the parent of a trans kid, [the GOP is] lying to you to get you so mad and hateful and angry towards somebody else that you forget that they’re not actually putting forward any policies to help you in your every day.”
McMorrow also tells Molly what it was like to see one of her Republican colleagues egg on attendees at a far-right rally literally right after Gretchen Whitmer’s kidnapping attempt was unveiled, and how she and her female lawmakers manage to govern a state that is simultaneously progressive and fringe-right. Or, as McMorrow puts it, “everything all at once.”
Also in this episode: Molly and co-host Andy Levy listen to Fox News proclaim that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a liberal puppet and Ben Shapiro gets skewered for his “Twitter” advice to Elon Musk.
Listen to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
