In A Gretchen Whitmer Michigan, Expect More Smut In Schools And More Lies About Abortion

Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon dueled Tuesday night in the second and final debate before voters cast their ballots in less than two weeks. With the latest poll showing likely voters evening split between the candidates, two missteps by the incumbent may have handed Dixon the election.

Whitmer Puts Sexually Explicit Books over Kids

For weeks Whitmer avoided stating her position on whether sexually explicit books should be accessible in Michigan’s taxpayer-funded public school libraries. As I wrote on Tuesday, the moderators should push the governor to announce her view on the issue, and they did, asking Dixon first her position.

“What I’ve heard from parents from across the state,” Dixon began, is that they are outraged about inappropriate sexual content in school libraries and they have risen up. These are not textbooks helping children understand themselves, Dixon stressed, but are books “describing to children how to have sex.” And such books “should not be in our classrooms.” “I stand with those parents,” Dixon continued, “that want to make sure we go back to the basics of reading, writing, and math in our schools.” 

In response, Whitmer pretended the issue was about making “sure all children feel accepted and safe.” She then portrayed Dixon’s support of parents demanding sexually explicit books be removed from school libraries as “waging a fight” for political purposes and “trying to wedge communities against one another.” 

Dixon countered simply, “Well, I guess we’ve received the answer now: She is not going to stand with parents on this issue who are crying out across the state.” 

While Whitmer’s answer was predictable to those familiar with her far-left policies, with the Democrat governor now on the record on the issue, Dixon’s team has a perfect closing argument for parents concerned by the sexualization of children in schools: Tudor stands with the moms and dads who want to return to the basics of reading, writing, and math, while Whitmer wants smut in schools. 

And this issue resonates broadly, far beyond Tudor’s conservative base, including the Democrat stronghold of Dearborn, the sixth most populous city in the state.

Whitmer Lies About Proposition 3

Abortion proved another tripwire for Whitmer, but not because of her extreme position, which she continues to hide. Rather, Whitmer unwittingly made parental consent an issue by lying about Proposition 3. 

Proposition 3, which is officially named the “Right to Reproductive Freedom” but is colloquially called the “abortion amendment,” will be on the ballot along with the governor’s contest, leading the moderators to query the candidates about their views on the proposal. 

During Tuesday’s debate, Whitmer told voters that “Prop 3 is absolutely necessary to preserve the rights we’ve had for 49 years under Roe v. Wade,” adding that “parental rights and consent will still be effective,” and claiming that “the other side will say all sorts of wild-eye things that are not true.”

Dixon countered that Prop 3 is “not even close to Roe” and that “it would be the most