Biden Admin ‘Believes We Are Unfit Because of Our Values’: Parental Rights Advocates

Some in Washington, D.C. are convinced that most Americans are not qualified to parent their own children, and they haven’t been shy about saying so. Leading the charge on this line of thinking is none other than the President of the United States. On June 12, as part of its focus on Pride Month, the White House posted a video on Twitter narrated by President Joe Biden, in which he says in part: “These are our kids. These are our neighbors. Not somebody else’s kids; they’re all our kids. And our children are the kite strings that hold our national ambitions aloft.”

In isolation, the sentiments might seem acceptable, if not admirable, but as part of a larger and growing push by many to trim Americans’ parental rights, the White House’s message is “horrifying and appalling,” Nicole Neily said. Yet Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, quickly added that Biden’s remarks were “not surprising at the same time.”

“This is just another example of the mask slipping right off of progressive activists,” she suggested in a June 15 appearance on Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch.” Harkening back to Hillary Clinton’s popularization of the African proverb, “It takes a village,” Neily said, “There is this idea that children are just part of this collective. And we have seen anywhere from schools to doctors’ offices that families that don’t support their ideology, that are not on their train, they’re dangerous,” she continued.

“For them to imply that we as parents wouldn’t love our children because of their sexual orientation, because of their politics, is insulting,” said Neily. “I can’t think of a single family that would be unwelcoming.” She acknowledged that families might struggle with their child’s feelings and thoughts, but families want the best for their children. “I can’t think of anybody who would throw their children out on the street,” she continued, “but that is now the default setting in so many of these activist minds.”

Parents Defending Education is a nonpartisan national organization focused on providing parents with resources they can use to advocate for their children’s education.

In remarks at a White House event recognizing the 2023 National and State Teachers of the Year, Biden said, “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child,” referencing what he said was a “teacher’s creed.”

“Our nation’s children are all our children,” the president announced during the April event.

“It is just horrifying to consider that the government really believes kids belong to them,” responded Jody Hice, senior advisor to the president at FRC, who was sitting in for Tony Perkins on the day’s program.

Neily reminded Hice of the internet slideshow, “The Life of Julia,” that President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign released in its campaign against Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The presentation purported to show how the Obama administration’s programs were key for citizens’ welfare throughout their life.

“The government will take care of you from cradle to grave, from the moment you’re born, up through school, universal health care. You don’t need a marriage. You don’t need a family. We’ll take care of you … ” Neily explained of the slideshow’s intent, noting it was more evidence of a mindset that aims to erode parental rights and self-autonomy.

“I don’t want the government doing that,” Neily stressed. “I don’t want them making decisions for me because we don’t share the same value system. But obviously, the values that I have at home, my husband and I, do not comport with what the Biden people want.”

“They believe that we are unfit because of our values,” she added. “They are my children, and they will be. They are not the government’s, and they are certainly not Joe Biden’s.”

Elon Musk, among many other notable critics, was incensed by Biden’s statement as well, responding in a tweet: “You are the government. They are NOT your kids.”

Echoing Neily’s concerns, Hice warned, “This administration and the Left in this country believe that people like us are unfit parents because of our beliefs, because of our Judeo-Christian beliefs, because of our Christian values. They believe we are unfit to be parents because of what we believe.”

“What goes unsaid in that is that they [think they] know better than we do what society needs them to know,” Niely said. “It’s to fit [our children] into their mold of a productive society.”

A recent Rasmussen poll reveals that whether Americans lean politically Left, Right, or not at all, a majority strongly disagrees with the administration’s perspective.

Yet the push to seemingly cut parents out of their children’s lives is not only an initiative of activists on the federal level.

Hice said California legislators are considering a bill (AB-957) that would mandate a “parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity” be considered as part of the health, safety, and welfare of a child when a court is determining custody and/or visitation rights in the case of a divorce.

“Frighteningly, California is certainly the farthest along,” Neily said, “but this is a trial balloon that has been floated in a number of states.”

Neily noted as well in a January 2022 Facebook post from Michigan’s Democratic Party: “The purpose of a public education in a public school is not to teach kids only what parents what them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs to know.” The post received so much blowback that the party officials had second thoughts and deleted it.

In a September 2021 Virginia gubernatorial debate, Republican Glenn Youngkin said he believed parents should have a voice in the decisions local school districts make about their children’s education, a position that contrasted with his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe. “You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education,” Youngkin said.

In a telling response, McAuliffe, who was running for governor after serving in the position from 2014-2018, responded by saying he was “not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.”

“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe continued. Youngkin is now Virginia’s governor.

In response to the rising level of rhetoric on this issue from Democrats and some teachers’ unions, the House narrowly passed the Parents Bill of Rights Act (HR 5) in late March. Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) the bill’s sponsor, said her proposal “aims to bring more transparency and accountability to education.”

“As birthrates decline,” FRC’s Meg Kilgannon warned, “the battle over children will intensify. Parents are keenly aware of this threat from the state itself. We see this at the school board level most recently. It is more important now than ever that parents take their responsibility seriously — being a mom or dad is the most important role in life.”