Glenn Youngkin Parades Mother Who Campaigned Against Toni Morrison Books In New Ad

@GlennYoungkin via Youngkin for Governor/Twitter

October 27, 2021, 6:24 am

The GOP’s nominee for governor of Virginia is parading around a mother known for her crusade against Toni Morrison’s Beloved on the basis that it gave her teenage son nightmares in his campaign ads.

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Viewers of Glenn Youngkin’s latest campaign ad recognized Laura Murphy as she shared her “powerful story” of her child reading Pulitzer Prize-winning literature.

“As a parent, it’s tough to catch everything, so when my son showed me his reading assignment, my heart sunk,” she said. “It was some of the most explicit material you can imagine. I met with lawmakers. They couldn’t believe what I was showing them.”

What’s it like to have Terry McAuliffe block you from having a say in your child’s education?

This mom knows – she lived through it. Watch her powerful story. #VAgov pic.twitter.com/u8EjmMQX0n

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 25, 2021

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Murphy’s goal in the ad is to complain that Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the previous governor of Virginia and Youngkin’s opponent in the current race, allegedly didn’t want parents to have a say in their children’s education.

But this mother’s crusade against Beloved being taught in an Advanced Placement (AP) English class started back in 2012, when she campaigned for future AP English classes to provide separate reading options if a chosen book — which, again, is specifically for advanced students — has sexually explicit content.

The school board shot her down, despite her pearl-clutching that Toni Morrison gave her then-teenage son nightmares.

Twitter users seeing the ad and learning about Murphy’s history had more than a few things to say about the melodrama of it all.

This ad is going to backfire. He thought he could sneak in “distraught white mother” without having anyone dig into the back story.

“Tried to ban pulitzer prize winning novel by beloved black author from her son’s Senior AP English class” is a gift to McAuliffe. https://t.co/b12yud5PDL

— What Biden Has Done (@What46HasDone) October 26, 2021

That’s what this is about? Beloved? Just…wow. How did these ppl get so fragile?

— Red state blues (@LDonivan) October 26, 2021

It’s kind of dismal that “my kid gets scared reading Toni Morrison” is the basis for a political platform rather than a source of embarrassment. https://t.co/6JugeqIfHe

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) October 26, 2021

So the “explicit” scenes of slave owners torturing their slaves gave the kid “night terrors”? The kids who were descendants of slaves seemed to handle it.

— Superteach (@superteach232) October 25, 2021

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Imagine being a senior in high school and your mommy protesting the school district because you told her Toni Morrison gave you nightmares. https://t.co/fXfUkVZ7tI

— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) October 25, 2021

Reading arguably one of the most well reviewed novels of the last 25 years. Needed to pick a different book. Seriously. This argument is laughable

— BobbyL_AZ_2020 (@AzBobbyl) October 25, 2021

In response to the over-the-top ad, Virginia Democrats reportedly passed out copies of Toni Morrison books at a recent rally for McAuliffe.

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Being pro-banning books in 2021 seems like a strange platform to run on, but anything goes in MAGAville.

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*First Published: October 27, 2021, 6:24 am