Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee to head North Carolina’s schools, has spent years working for a group that’s spread extreme conspiracy theories.
Those include claims that the “deep state” is behind school shootings; 9/11 was an inside job; former President Barack Obama has a “Hitler blood line” because “allegedly Hitler is Obama’s grandfather”; elites drink the blood of children; and public schools are part of a “plan set up by the Illuminati to mold the brains of our children.”
Morrow is a right-wing commentator who is running to be North Carolina’s superintendent of public instruction. She has a history of making far-right remarks, including espousing anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim views.
Media Matters previously reported that Morrow is a QAnon conspiracy theorist who referenced a conspiracy theory fueled by that movement to suggest that actor Jim Carrey drinks the blood of children. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck reported that she “expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden,” among other violent remarks.
Morrow’s association with extreme rhetoric extends to her work with Liberty First Grassroots, a North Carolina-based political action committee that engages “communities to elect Constitutional Conservative Candidates.”
She has been involved with LFG for years and has served as the group’s spokesperson. A 2021 LFG statement described her as “a long time Conservative Activist Team member” and someone who has been “quoted by the media many times.” Morrow has credited LFG with being an integral part of her political journey, telling an interviewer that she first connected with the group surrounding the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, who became a Supreme Court justice in 2017.
Morrow has repeatedly touted her work with the group in media interviews as a candidate. In a February interview, she listed “spokesperson for Liberty First Grassroots” as an example of her “notable government or civic involvement.” She similarly highlighted LFG in a 2022 questionnaire for her unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Wake County Board of Education.
The group has endorsed Morrow (“LFG endorses Morrow 100%. … Morrow is the light on the hill”) and has organized support for her campaign.
The far-right and extremist views of LFG have so far gone largely unreported in the media. Here is a look at the group:
LFG has repeatedly pushed mass-shooting conspiracy theories, including about school shootings
Conspiracy theorists have long claimed that mass shootings are actually “false flag” attacks. As The Guardian defined it, the concept of a false flag event “is the idea that powerful forces routinely arrange massacres or terrorist atrocities, and make it appear as if some other individual or group did them, in order to achieve their sinister political goals.”
In 2019, LFG agreed with a radio host who “suggested that a ‘nice school shooting’ could help to break up coverage of President Donald Trump’s impeachment.” LFG wrote: “This is how Deep State operates and every one knows it! These set ups are called False Flags...but people do get hurt!”
