Potential Wisconsin Senate candidate set to speak alongside Moms for Liberty book ban activist

Probable Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde is set to speak next month alongside Scarlett Johnson, a prominent organizer for the far-right Moms for Liberty organization that routinely calls for book bans.

Hovde and Johnson are set to make guest appearances at a “Pints & Politics” event in Cudahy on Nov. 6, according to a flier shared by Johnson on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter). Johnson is a prominent member of Moms for Liberty, and she founded a Moms for Liberty chapter in Ozaukee in July 2022.

Moms for Liberty is a classified extremist hate group that routinely attempts to ban books, repeal lessons on race and LGBTQ people and inject culture war issues into school board races.

She has personally used her large social media presence to advocate for book bans in schools on multiple platforms and podcast appearances. Johnson says if the books she wants to ban stay on library shelves, they will eventually lead to indoctrination and force children to “remove their genitalia.” There is no evidence for any of this.

Indoctrination that begins as early as 3-4 years old begets a generation of kids ready to remove their genitalia. pic.twitter.com/lU3JuOBP5b

— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) February 23, 2023

Despite her words calling for effective book bans, Johnson also claims that removing books is not the same as banning them, and that “the left” are the only ones who ban books.

Last week, she attended a rally held by another far-right group flagged for extreme views, Gays Against Groomers, outside Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Johnson rallied alongside three sitting GOP members of the Wisconsin state Assembly in the smally rally to advocate for a gender-affirming care ban, which the Republican-dominated legislature passed earlier this month. Gov. Tony Evers (D) has pledged to veto the bill when it reaches his desk.

Thank you Representative Nate Gustafson and Representative @johnmacco
For standing with us and fighting for the protection of Wisconsin’s kids pic.twitter.com/nLGrzqAFkC

— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) October 21, 2023

Hovde is a banking executive who has never held public office before, and he has garnered criticism from both liberals and conservatives for his spotty voting record. Right-wing political commentator Mark Belling even called for Hovde to be removed from voter rolls for his failure to participate in previous elections.

Hovde ran an unsuccessful primary campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2012, which now-Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) won. Hovde has yet to officially announce his 2024 campaign, but he is thought of as the frontrunner on the Republican side to take on Baldwin.