White House press secretary Jen Psaki was moved to tears during a recent interview on the News Not Noise podcast when the subject of the latest barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being proposed and passed by the GOP came up.
Podcast host Jessica Yellin asked Psaki for her thoughts on the recent legislation and whether its motivation was sincere or an "organized political attempt to create a wedge issue ahead of the midterms," to which Psaki said, "Ding. Ding. Ding."
"This is a political wedge issue and an attempt to win a culture war," she explained as she audibly began to cry. "And they're doing that in a way that is harsh and cruel to a community of kids."
"Ahh I'm going to get emotional about this issue - because it's horrible," she continued. "But it's like kids who are bullied and all these leaders are taking steps to hurt them and hurt their lives and hurt their families. And you look at some of these laws in these states and it's going after parents who are in loving relationships who have kids. It's completely outrageous. Sorry, this is an issue that makes me completely crazy."
Psaki specifically pointed to the example of Florida's "don't say gay" law which prevents teachers from being able to acknowledge or discuss LGBTQ+ issues or identities with their students.
"What we're talking about here in Florida, for example ... if you have a kid in a classroom, and I have a kindergartner, I can imagine her saying, 'My friend has two moms. My friend has two dads'," Psaki said. "And the teacher in her classroom, I would hope would say, 'That's wonderful. They're loving parents, and you have a mom and a dad.' This is penalizing teachers and educators. There are so many layers of this that are outrageous, and I hope people continue to educate themselves on this because it is a bad side of politics."
