'Just Another Concerned Mom' Turns Out To Be Republican Strategist

By Susie Madrak — October 27, 2021

As soon as I saw this interview with the president of the Loudoun County Republican Women's Club on Twitter yesterday, I was suspicious. I was right:

Teaching students about structural racism has become a political flashpoint across the country. Here's my interview with one of Virginia's leading activists, Patti Hidalgo Menders -- a mother of six who's fighting the state's equity and inclusion curriculum. Via @Sho_theCircus: pic.twitter.com/qQlopoYd3j

— alexwagner (@alexwagner) October 26, 2021

She's not just an activist. She's a paid Republican strategist with Majority Strategies. Maybe you should point that out. https://t.co/2Mc9BnVDzh

— Suburban Guerrilla Ω (@SusieMadrak) October 26, 2021

This morning, her LinkedIn profile now says she left that job last month. Coincidence! I wonder who's paying her now?

I deeply, deeply resent the fact that the media continues to interview "activists" without disclosing their financial interests and operative background (she's just a concerned mom! Look, her roots need a touchup!), especially when they're saying crap like this:

"This is the wealthiest county in the country. There's not a lot of racism." It goes downhill from there.

Oh, puhleeze.

Hidalgo lives in Leesburg, a wealthy right-wing evangelical enclave -- and of course they're racist. They're Republicans! Loudoun was one of the last school districts to desegregate in the United States!

I mean, look what she's upset about. The school curriculum said mean things about Andrew f*cking Jackson! Father of the genocidal Indian Removal Act, he owned hundreds of slaves and wanted more land for his plantations. He was a crook and a war criminal who executed prisoners over minor infractions. He was the Donald Trump of his time!

How dare they pick on him? And make the poor white children feel bad? Why won't they forgive him?

"I don't look at a person based on their skin color."

The fact that a previously assertive journalist like Alex Wagner presented this woman as just another concerned mom makes me grind my teeth. Republicans have manufactured fear over Critical Race Theory as a way to amplify racism for political ends, same as it ever was. Why does Wagner accept every single Republican talking point in this interview as a good faith statement?

Sure, she pushes back (weakly) a few times: Wasn't Andrew Jackson one of the bad guys? But on the whole, this interview is absolutely cringeworthy -- and really, just an extended campaign commercial for Glenn Youngkin.

And Fox News has covered this school board "controversy" 24 times in the past two months. The parents who formed an anti-racist Facebook group to rebut the disinformation got threats!

Shame on you, Alex Wagner. You left out so much context and let a Republican operative push out talking points.