A new White House video insisting that Americans’ children collectively belong to the nation instead of their parents has sparked fierce responses from Elon Musk and a host of conservatives including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The video, released this week, featured the White House lit up in rainbow colors as President Joe Biden intoned, “These are our kids. These are our neighbors. Not somebody else’s kids. They’re all our kids.”
“Our children are the kite strings that hold our national ambitions aloft,” Biden continues. “It matters a great deal how we treat everyone in this country. LGBTQ Americans, especially children: You’re loved, you’re heard, and this administration has your back.”
Musk, the SpaceX chief and owner of Twitter, had a succinct and harsh response to the Biden administration’s claim: “You are the government. They are NOT your kids.”
You are the government.
They are NOT your kids.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 14, 2023
DeSantis’ presidential campaign echoed Musk’s retort.
“They are not your kids,” the campaign tweeted.
They are not your kids. pic.twitter.com/pgdYZOh8rz
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 13, 2023
Biden has insisted that the nation’s children belong to someone other than their parents before. In April, honoring the White House’s Teacher of the Year, Biden quoted her saying, “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child.”
“No such thing as someone else’s child,” Biden repeated. “Our nation’s children are all our children. As I often say, you teachers hold the kite strings that lift our national ambitions aloft. You really do.”
Republicans have been fighting for parents to have more control over the forces that affect their children. In late March, House Republicans approved “Parents Bill of Rights” legislation; House Democrats mocked the effort, calling it the “Politics over Parents Act.”
“This bill aims to bring more transparency and accountability to education, allowing parents to be informed and when they have questions and concerns to lawfully bring them to their local school boards,” said Rep. Julia Letlow, who introduced the bill.
At the same time, DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 1557, Parental Rights in Education, which reinforced parents’ fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children. The bill banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and barred instruction that was not age appropriate for students.
“Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children,” DeSantis stated. “Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old.”