A viral video featuring children as young as toddler-age made its rounds on social media, drawing condemnation for the parents from the right while many on the left felt expressed feelings of pride. In the video, these young children can be seen holding signs messages that included “F— Police” and “Eff Trumps [sic] Goons.”
Toddlers and very young children are marched outside the Portland federal courthouse. They carry signs and say, “F— the police” on cue from the adults. One toddler does the black power fist. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Xr4ubMrKZs
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 23, 2020
The supportive posts on social media were often as heinous as the action itself with people claiming this as an example of strong parenting and properly raising the next generation of anti-American citizens. As for those on the right, the responses were pretty universal.
These people are sick. Their children are victims. https://t.co/ETBEq9mtMx
— Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL FILM & TELEVISION STAR (@yesnicksearcy) July 24, 2020
Where can I go to protest exploitation of children as political props? https://t.co/aXReePM1Zq
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) July 23, 2020
liberals should not be allowed to have kids https://t.co/xUK07IFVtp
— Stonewall Jackson (@1776Stonewall) July 23, 2020
Beyond…. https://t.co/vLQhilbaUu
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 24, 2020
This is child abuse…. https://t.co/A4zXSJHX0X
— Jeff Dornik (@JeffTheGK) July 24, 2020
These Parents should be reported for child abuse… disgusting. https://t.co/WCgvy7ZfGK
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) July 23, 2020
Not ok. This puts children in harms way with signs that don’t call for justice, instead they call for hatred. We hurt our own causes with antics like these. https://t.co/4BwTIpwNKk
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) July 24, 2020
The Left has no Soul. https://t.co/iYWOMX4gmd
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) July 24, 2020
These kids have not even been taught about apostrophes. SMH. https://t.co/OGdjpc6bzO
— Michael Berry (@MichaelBerrySho) July 23, 2020
Tragic. When you teach your children to hate, they will learn the lesson. https://t.co/MUND7FToab
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 23, 2020
Disgusting… https://t.co/t1zoLr8yVQ
— Audrey Russo ? (@audrey_russo) July 23, 2020
Wow. Just wow. https://t.co/vhQpMHc8Gr
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) July 23, 2020
These parents should be ashamed of themselves. https://t.co/KbeI3w0JkN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 23, 2020
Across the nation, riots are being conflated with peaceful protests. Antifa and Black Lives Matter anarcho-communists are being confused for those invoking their constitutional rights to assemble and protest. But adding children into the mix who are not old enough to understand the political and cultural ideologies they’re being used to espouse is particularly disturbing.
Kids have been used as political props in America since the dawn of television, but this particular use of toddlers to promote a hateful worldview goes beyond manipulation. Should this be considered child abuse?
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