Tudor Dixon, the Republican nominee in Michigan’s gubernatorial race, recently said that she does not know why books about divorce are publicly available to children because her daughter got anxiety from reading one.
NEW: #MIGov GOP nominee @TudorDixon says kids shouldn’t read books about divorce. No, really.
Listen for yourself: pic.twitter.com/IKjM4Rw23g
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) October 25, 2022
“When my daughter was in first grade, she got a book out of the school library, and it was a book on divorce,” Dixon said in Oct. 2020 in audio published by the American Bridge 21st Century PAC. “And it was something about having two different homes, and by the end of the book, the little girl had been told, ‘You get to have Christmas at both houses.’”
Dixon did acknowledge to Real America’s Voice that the book could be beneficial to a child dealing with their parents separating. But because her daughter was uncomfortable after reading it, she doesn’t think books on the subject should be available off the shelves. She instead advocated for librarians to provide the books only to parents after they request it.
“But my little girl picked that book out of the library, and her parents were not getting divorced,” Dixon continued. “And my husband and I were trying to figure out how to get her to stop worrying about something that wasn’t going to happen. And I remember he and I both going, ‘Why was this something she was just able to pick up off the shelf?’ Because it caused an unnecessary anxiety in her life.”
Dixon has previously expressed her desire to ban “pornographic” books in schools, but she did not provide evidence that these types of books are available or specify what her parameters on “pornographic” are. During Tuesday’s debate with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), she used a story by an anonymous source to justify banning pornographic books in school libraries. And the Supreme Court has struggled to define what material is considered “pornographic.”
Education has been one of the main focuses of this race and incumbent Whitmer addressed Dixon’s ideas in their most recent debate.