An ally of far-right conspiracy theorist and political operative Michael Flynn has been named chair of the Moms for Liberty chapter in Sarasota, Florida. The alliance with Flynn is particularly revealing for a group that objects to criticism of its extremism; when former President Donald Trump suggested earlier this year that he would bring former national security adviser Flynn back into the White House if he becomes president again, Right Wing Watch called it a “five-alarm threat to democracy.”
Sarasota County is home to M4L co-founder Bridget Ziegler, who now chairs the local school board and runs the school board program for the right-wing training organization Leadership Institute. The Sarasota Herald Tribune reported Monday that Conni Brunni has taken over as chair of the Sarasota M4L chapter. Brunni had been backed by Flynn during a failed effort last year to take over as chair the county Republican Party, after which she started a competing organization to push the GOP further to the right. “I want each of you to know that I stand shoulder to shoulder with Ms. Conni Brunni, because as (Thomas) Jefferson said, she stands 'like a rock' on her principles,” Flynn wrote at the time.
Flynn, who joined the executive committee of the Sarasota GOP last year, vocally backed Ziegler and other conservatives elected to the school board that year. Flynn has said that some of the “WOKE SOB’s” serving on school boards “just need to be arrested.”
Flynn served briefly as Trump’s national security adviser, pled guilty to lying to the FBI, attempted to withdraw his plea, and was eventually pardoned by Trump. After Trump lost the 2020 election, Flynn encouraged him to declare martial law and have the military oversee a new election. Flynn also took part in a dominionist prayer call meant to mobilize spiritual warfare on Trump’s behalf.
On the eve of the Jan 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Flynn spoke at a rally emceed by Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander, where speakers mingled Christian nationalism and threats of violence. “We should not accept this,” Flynn insisted. (Flynn later refused to answer questions from the House committee that investigated the insurrections about whether he believed violence was justified that day.) When the J6 insurrection failed to keep Trump in power, Flynn moved to Sarasota County, where, AP reported last year, he “found an operating base of sorts” at a rural venue that is “at times a children’s playland, wedding venue, organizing space and weapons training ground.”
Since Trump’s loss, Flynn has put himself at the center of far-right Christian nationalist organizing across the country. The conspiracy-theory-promoting ReAwaken America tour Flynn runs with businessman Clay Clark serves as a bridge between MAGA movement insiders, including members of Trump’s family, and far-right figures who openly call for violence and execution of their political opponents. ReAwaken America is a vehicle for exposing Trump supporters to further radicalization from extremist speakers.
At a ReAwaken America event in 2021, Flynn’s dangerously exclusionary Christian nationalism was explicit and emphatic: “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God.” Flynn has also been allied with anti-Muslim activists Brigitte Gabriel and John Guandolo.
M4L’s Brunni also promotes a divisive brand of politics. “Brunni also was responsible for a controversial campaign billboard calling former school board candidate Lauren Kurnov a ‘baby killer’ in the 2022 School Board race, alluding to Kurnov's former employment at Planned Parenthood,” the Herald Tribune reported.
Brunni reportedly plans to push M4L’s conspiracy-grounded opposition to social and emotional learning, which has led M4L to stake out a position against mental health supports for public school students, which even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis supports.
People For the American Way’s Grandparents for Truth is mobilizing grandparents and other concerned citizens to defend the freedom to read and the freedom to learn from the book banners at Moms for Liberty and those in public office. Find out more and sign up here.
