The rumor mill has disrupted President Donald Trump’s Cabinet appointments. Who will they choose, and what does each choice mean? The truth is this is all a lot easier than the press corps would have us think. Trump will choose whoever he believes will carry out his agenda, so he can say: “Promises Made, Promises Keep.”
For the education secretary, there are some notable names. But President Trump’s most promising choice for Secretary of Education is Tiffany Justice, founder of the grassroots activist organization in Florida, Moms for Liberty.
Let’s start with the two strongest arguments toward Secretary of Judicial Education.
First: the fear that they might be difficult to confirm. Democrats are sure to throw ten times the flak at him that they gave Secretary DeVos, so the argument might be, and they almost drowned him out.
We tend to remember DeVos’s confirmation hearing as an epic disaster, but that’s not true. DeVos acquitted herself well for almost everything. Democrats drew blood in one memorable line, then a vertically integrated messaging device masquerading as the corporate media went wild about it.
But he couldn’t do that to Ms. Justice, for two reasons. First of all, he is an unassailable messenger. He has done hundreds of hours of print, podcast, radio, and TV interviews without a “gotcha” moment. He is perhaps the greatest education communicator from the Right since Secretary William Bennett. And even if he flubbed the line, it doesn’t really matter. Washington Post will play the clip, but Trump followers on X will see various clips of Justice going around some hapless Democratic senator. Public opinion, at worst, will be a draw.
Second: Ms. Justice does not have a college degree. This is a funny “argument”. Indeed, you can imagine a bigger argument in him please? The Democrats, who have just been held back in the national election by their unhinged elitism, will not be able to contain themselves. President Trump must be salivating at the prospect. How much more harm do Democrats want to do with uneducated voters and suburban women? It will be fun to find out!
Tiffany Justice went to college, met the man of her dreams, and decided to put her family first. That’s not a responsibility—it’s an inspirational story. Combine that with what he did next, and it’s the American Dream he’s working on.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Tiffany and co-founder Tina Descovich launched Moms for Liberty at a time when many schools in Florida refused to reopen or waive their COVID-era mask mandates. Moms for Liberty is working with Governor DeSantis to reopen Florida schools. They were called “extremists” and “science deniers”, at the time, by those who now pretend to agree with Moms for Liberty about reopening and masking everything. How convenient!
After the COVID hysteria finally died down, Moms for Liberty took aim at critical race theory. At the time, the media called him an extremist. President Joe Biden’s Justice Department issued a letter effectively labeling her a domestic terrorist, and the FBI subpoenaed and intimidated Moms for Liberty members who were eager to speak their minds at school board meetings. From being a victim of the DOJ weapon to the secretary of education-what a story!
But perhaps the biggest thing that Tiffany Justice and Moms for Liberty did, which has not been properly credited: they moved the Overton Window on the indoctrination of gender ideology in schools. It’s hard to remember, but only three years ago, the Republicans were too shy to venture beyond the “men should not play in women’s sports” applause line. Hormonal sterilization and mutilation surgery? Too crass to mention. Schools secretly transferring children without their parents’ consent? It’s too crazy to even bring it up.
Tiffany Justice and Moms for Liberty changed the conversation. It was a sine qua non for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ landmark Parental Rights in Education Act of 2022, which banned the indoctrination of gender ideology in K-3—and then K-12—education. As a Floridian who moved to the Sunshine State in no small part to DeSantis’ leadership and transformation, I will understand. Mother for Liberty has been there through thick and thin.
And they don’t stop with the Parental Rights in Education Act. Moms for Liberty hammered the issue of gender ideology at every opportunity, and President Trump picked it up and championed it as well. At the end of every campaign rally, he promises to “drive transgender madness out of our schools.” Well, if he has the chance, the Justice Secretary will do the right thing.
Also, not to talk about, but – “Secretary of Justice?” Does not have enough ring to it? President Trump loves his great name, and no doubt he will be one of the best and most educated surrogates the next president could ask for.
To listen to Tiffany Justice is her pleasure. To reckon properly with his argument is to agree with him. Starting with nothing more than revenue from t-shirt sales, she created a movement for American mothers unlike anything seen since Phyllis Schlafly. Imagine what they could do with federal agencies and the support of President Donald Trump.
Josh Hammer it is Newsweek senior editor-at-large, host of “The Josh Hammer Show” and “America on Trial with Josh Hammer,” syndicated columnist, senior advisor for the Article III Project, and research fellow with the Edmund Burke Foundation. Subscribe here to “The Josh Hammer Report,” a Newsweek newsletter, as well as Josh Hammer’s Subtext text message group. X: @josh_hammer.
The opinion expressed in this article is only from the author himself.
