Thursday’s CBS Mornings defended teachers seeking to discuss “sexuality and gender identity” in preschool and early elementary school, decrying efforts to restrict it as filled with “pretty extreme” “attacks,” and “explosive” rhetoric. Instead, they argued parents need to “trust your teachers to do a good job” because they’re “professionals” and don’t complain to “your politician.”
The segment was in context of what the chyron and fill-in co-host Jamie Yuccas described as “an impassioned speech by Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow” after she was hit with “ugly allegations from a fellow lawmaker” that accused her of “wanting to groom and sexualize kindergarteners and wanting to teach eight-year-olds that they're responsible for slavery.”
And in a case of bias by omission, CBS chose not to mention the fact that McMorrow’s a Democrat (with an American Conservative Union lifetime score of 34.85).
CBS then ran highlights from her fiery speech, lamenting she “didn't expect to wake up...accused...of grooming and sexualizing children.”
Before going off about needing to ensure people who are LGBTQ, non-white, and non-Christian are “seen, heard, and supported” and that “hateful people” cannot win, McMorrow addressed the race angle:
I’m a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense.
Co-host Tony Dokoupil reacted by lamenting “[t]he political attacks are getting pretty extreme” (from Republicans) and that “grooming is quite an explosive phrase to use from one politician to another.”
Dokoupil went next to whether teachers should be “restrict[ed]” in what they “can do in the classroom,” which would include matters of sex education.
Saying he’s “met,” “reported on,” and has teachers in his family, Dokoupil argued the correct approach is to “trust your teachers to do a good job in the classroom” because “[t]hey're professionals” who “get it done.”
And if you have concerns about inappropriate material, Dokoupil argued parents should “call your teacher” and not “your politician” because the former is who’s “in front of your children.”
Co-host and Democratic Party donor Gayle King then stated this without a shred of irony: “Everything is so divisive and so hot button trigger.”
Before moving on to Queen Elizbeth II posing with two horses ahead of her 96th birthday, Yuccas argued “you can hold two ideas” by wading into hot button topics even though, in McMorrow’s case, “she's a white, Christian mom.”
As illustrated by the Twitter account LibsOfTikTok and her reposting of the vile filth preschool and elementary school teachers openly brag about and discuss online, it sure seems like phone conversations aren’t going to work when voicing objections to sexualizing children and encouraging transgenderism.
CBS’s request that parents acquiesce to the whims of what teacher’s heart desires on matters of sex was made possible thanks to the backing of advertisers such as Crest and Progressive. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant CBS transcript from April 21, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
April 21, 2022
7:49 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Michigan Lawmaker’s Impassioned Speech]
JAMIE YUCCAS: Well, earlier, we mentioned Florida's new law restricting what teachers can say to young children about sexuality and gender identity. It's part of a wider argument over kids and LGBTQ+ issues. Now an impassioned speech by Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow has been picked up on social media as she fights ugly allegations from a fellow lawmaker. The lawmaker released this fundraising e-mail attacking McMorrow for wanting to groom and sexualize kindergarteners and wanting to teach eight-year-olds that they're responsible for slavery. Here's how McMorrow responded to the allegations on the Senate floor.
MICHIGAN STATE SENATOR MALLORY MCMORROW (D): 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 e-mail fundraising for herself. [SCREEN WIPE] Who am I? I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense. [SCREEN WIPE] People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape after decades of disinvestment or that health care costs are too high or that teachers are leaving the profession. I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian. We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people's lives.
YUCCAS: Republican State Senator Lana Theis, who made the original allegations, did not apologize but responded, saying “I'll keep my focus on Michigan parents, who Democrats are seeking to undermine as the primary decision-makers in the education of their children.”
TONY DOKOUPIL: I mean, there's a lot of layers here.
GAYLE KING: Yeah, I think so, too.
DOKOUPIL: The political attacks are getting pretty extreme. Sexualizing children is — grooming is quite an explosive phrase to use from one politician to another. And I want to go back to the beginning, which is laws restricting what teachers can do in the classroom — I've met a lot of teachers. They’re in my family. I’ve done stories on teachers, trust your teachers to do a good job in the classroom. They're professionals. They can get it done and if you have an issue as a parent, you have a right to call your teacher. It should be made locally.
YUCCAS: And talk to them.
KING: Yes.
KING: Yes.
DOKOUPIL: You don't need to call your politician. Call the teacher that's in front of your children.
KING: Everything is so divisive and so hot button trigger.
YUCCAS: Well, and you can hold two ideas.
KING: Yes.
YUCCAS: If she says she's a white, Christian mom, you can hold these ideas at the same time. But you know —
KING: A lot to unpack there.
YUCCAS: — okay.
