DeSantis and Trump Cross Paths at a Right-Wing Gathering
Several leading Republican presidential candidates, including former President Donald J. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, were converging on Philadelphia on Friday to rally conservative activists around a shared agenda of restricting transgender rights and limiting how race and L.G.B.T.Q.
issues are discussed in schools. Mr. DeSantis was the first to speak at a gathering of the newest powerhouse in social conservative circles, Moms for Liberty, which began as a small group of far-right suburban mothers but has quickly gained national influence. “What we’ve seen across this country in recent years has awakened the most powerful political force in this country: mama bears,” Mr.
DeSantis told the crowd of hundreds, to roars of applause. “We’ve done so much on these issues in Florida, and I will do all this as the next president.” Shortly after he spoke, the Supreme Court gave the conservative movement more victories with two rulings, one striking down President Biden’s program to relieve student loan debt and the other backing a web designer who had refused to provide services for same-sex marriages.
Mr. DeSantis headlined Moms for Liberty’s opening breakfast event, a nod to the group’s founding in his home state in 2021. Its national rise — it says it now has 275 chapters in 45 states — has coincided with the Florida governor’s ascension in right-wing circles as he pushed legislation to restrict discussions of so-called critical race theory and sexuality and gender in public schools.
