Conservative GOP women, led by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, rally at convention

Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke on the headlining panel at the Moms For Liberty “Giving Americans a Voice” Townhall at the Bradley Symphony Center in downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, during the second day of the Republican National Convention. Sanders also delivered a speech earlier Tuesday at the National Federation of Republican Women’s luncheon at The Pfister Hotel near the convention. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

MILWAUKEE — GOP women spotlighted the power of their vote and the work they do for the party Tuesday at several events on the perimeter of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“One thing I learned pretty early in Republican politics is that the Republican women are the very first call that you make if you want to get something done,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said to a roomful of cheering delegates at the National Federation of Republican Women’s luncheon at The Pfister Hotel.

Sanders, who served as White House press secretary during the Trump administration, said her former boss is going to win in November, and it will be “in large part” because of the women in the party.

Republican women are “going to flood the ballot box to support the only candidate who will defend and support our safety and our prosperity, and that is Donald J. Trump,” she said.

The themes Tuesday centered chiefly on dividing the biological sexes, particularly in school sports, and ensuring parents are able to be involved in their children’s education.

Sanders headlined the event in the hotel’s grand ballroom packed with women in red blazers, hats with Trump’s name emblazoned in sequins, and even a red hoop skirt.

The Arkansan entered the stage to cheers of “I love you Sarah!” and said she was honored to be among “steadfast conservative Republican women.”

“The left loves to talk about the war on women, but the only war that I see being waged is from the far left against the conservative women in this country,” Sanders said.

Sanders said she’s been the target of criticism from women on the left.

“But like all of you, I know how to tough it out. No nasty comment is going to stop us from protecting women’s sports or banning offensive nonsense words like ‘birthing person’ and ‘pregnant people,’” Sanders said.

Donna Russell of Stevens County, Washington, ate her chicken at a round banquet table and marveled that she was seeing Sanders, whom she’s “admired since her dad was in office.”

Sanders’ father, Mike Huckabee, was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.

“I hope that our women come out and vote, because if they come out and vote, we will take the country back,” said Russell, 71, who is attending the RNC as an alternate delegate.

Sanders’ speech was followed by appearances from U.S. congressmen, including Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.

“You ladies, doing everything you always do for our party, with your work and with your effort, we are going to win the presidency, we are going to get the Senate, we are going to win the House. And then we’re actually going to do the business of making America great again,” Donalds said.

Donalds’ wife, Erika, joined him on stage briefly and yelled to the crowd, “Politics is women’s work!”

“Yes!” they answered.

‘Joyful warriors’

Later Tuesday, the Moms for Liberty conservative organization hosted an afternoon of panel discussions featuring Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, among others.

Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty in Florida, opened the event warning that “radical Marxists are trying to steal our children’s futures.”

“They’re coming after our kids. And we always talk at Moms for Liberty, that we’re fighting with a smile on our face. We call ourselves joyful warriors,” Justice said.

Justice and her group are known among conservative lawmakers. Justice was invited to testify on parents rights in classrooms before the Republican-led U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.

Co-founder Tina Descovich, also of Florida, framed the group’s agenda as “a battle for the soul of our children.”

“Our mission is to save America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government,” Descovich said. “Our focus is to protect children and to protect our rights to raise our children as God intended us to raise them. The enemy wants to come in between us and our children.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization criticized by conservatives, named Moms for Liberty in its latest annual “hate report” for “extremist tactics to combat student diversity and inclusive education.”

On Friday the group filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration’s rule to extend federal discrimination protections to LGBTQ students. House Republicans have passed legislation to block President Joe Biden’s rule to expand Title IX protections, but Biden has promised to veto it.

Title IX “is under attack from the radical left,” Missouri’s Bailey said during the final panel.

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