Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named 'special guest' at Moms for Liberty national summit

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is heading to Philadelphia this summer: Moms for Liberty announced on Tuesday that he will be a “special guest” at their 2023 Joyful Warriors National Summit. This year’s appearance will be a two-fer for DeSantis, now a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – he headlined the same event last year when it was in Tampa.

“Our Florida moms began referring to Governor DeSantis as the ‘Parent’s Governor’ over two years ago when he stepped up to protect children in Florida from (COVID vaccine) mandates, masks and harmful ideologies in schools,” the Florida-based parental rights and conservative values organization said in an email, explaining that he also “protected kids from Gender Ideology in schools.”

In an interview with City & State last year, Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich explained that “conservatives have neglected public education for decades, and that’s why we're in the situation we’re in. So our mission is to save America by empowering parents to stand up for their parental rights. And right now that focus is in the public school system.”

This year’s summit takes place at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, June 29-July 2. Last year, DeSantis was given a symbolic “liberty sword” by the group. And the last time he was in Philadelphia he received a similar award: The city’s Union League gave him its gold medal of honor, “conferred on men … regarded as deserving well of their country,” and first given to President Abraham Lincoln.