Last year, Trump campaigned heavily on “culture wars,” another remnant of the ‘80s. In response to mass youth mobilization around racism, climate change, and gun violence, Trump and his cronies spread fear-driven narratives around inappropriate material being disseminated by progressives. The answer to this problem, Trump posed, was cutting off funding to educators championing “race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children.” Following the blueprint laid out for him, Trump was careful to always allude to an infringement on parental rights as did Gov. DeSantis. In his 2023 memoir, The Courage To Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, DeSantis wrote “Florida was one of the first states to enact a Parents’ Bill of Rights… guaranteeing parents the right to inspect the materials being used in their kids’ schools,” he wrote. “We prohibited the teaching of toxic racial ideologies and protected against the sexual inaction of children.” DeSantis and Trump aren’t alone; this mandate also serves as the foundation of Project 2025’s policy platform.
