When Democratic candidate Angie Nixon won her primary in an upset in Florida this week, I immediately thought about Ms. Rachel. The children’s entertainer and YouTube sensation recently made her first slate of political endorsements, and included Nixon in the list of candidates. In an Instagram post, Ms. Rachel explained her political philosophy and identified her preferred candidates simply as “some folks I believe care about all kids.”
Nixon’s win was quite the upset. She was outspent 13-1 by her opponent, himself a well-known target of Trump, and according to the New York Times, spent only $60,000 on advertising over the course of her campaign. She had some lefty endorsements but not the heaviest hitters: Senator Bernie Sanders or Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. Realistically, I don’t think we can say that Ms. Rachel’s endorsement won Nixon the election, but when you consider how much earned media had to matter here, I feel comfortable saying that the impact of it was potentially a major factor in Nixon’s favor. I’ll be really interested to see the age breakdown for Nixon’s voters, and how many of those voters are likely to be millennial parents.
Generally, I don’t think political endorsements matter as much as campaigns would like to think they do. But Ms. Rachel is a powerful validator. Parents of small children trust her instinctively, and many of us feel like we know her. I joke that she’s raising the world’s children through her YouTube videos. She’s about as wholesome as they come: a former preschool teacher who decided to create the content she wished existed for her own son. My kids have aged out of Ms. Rachel, but her videos got our family through the toddler years. With educational content, empathy, and music I actually enjoy listening to.
I’ve written previously about the MAGA Right’s continued efforts to cancel Ms. Rachel and why I knew those efforts would fail. Despite the many attempts to paint Ms. Rachel as some sort of radical propagandist for all things woke, her stated political beliefs are actually pretty mainstream:
There’s too much money in politics, and no one needs a billion dollars.
Support for kindness and empathy.
Families should have access to affordable childcare if they want it or have a parent stay home if that’s what they want.
Everyone should be able to feed and educate their kids without stress.
Nixon was one of several candidates Ms. Rachel has given her stamp of approval to. The list includes some familiar names, including Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, and Troy Jackson in her home state of Maine. Most of these endorsements came before the candidates’ primaries. I’m genuinely curious to see what, if anything, Ms. Rachel can do to bolster her slate of candidates in the general election. As much as the MAGA Right might hate her, based on the massive numbers she does on Netflix and YouTube, it’s pretty clear their kids are watching Ms. Rachel too.
It’s sad that it takes a beloved figure in children’s entertainment to point this out. But Ms. Rachel feels compelled to do so. And she’s made it clear on multiple occasions that she won’t stop speaking out. She’s a beacon of moral clarity.
It might seem strange for a popular entertainer to wade into politics, but when you consider Ms. Rachel’s overall advocacy, it makes sense. She’s an ambassador for Save the Children and has spoken up repeatedly about children in Gaza and Sudan. She’s called attention to the detention of innocent children detained in ICE prisons. at Ms. Rachel has also stood with the Black community, calling on her followers to listen to Black voices. She advocates for the family of Nolan Wells, saying “Black boys deserve to grow up”, and has encouraged her followers to shop at Black-owned businesses.
Caring about children and families isn’t an especially radical idea, or at least it shouldn’t be. But America is currently being run by a fascist, eugenicist death cult -- which is objectively bad for children. Donald Trump, his cabinet, and the elected officials he controls couldn’t give a shit about children and families, outside of exploiting us and our issues for their own political gain. They don’t care how many babies and children die from diseases that vaccines would have prevented or school shootings, how many women suffer needlessly because they don’t have access to reproductive care, or how many vulnerable communities they harm. That’s before you even get into children outside of America, those who suffered because USAID of Doge’d or because of the genocide in Gaza.
My guess is that the last thing Ms. Rachel wants to do is make political endorsements. Her personal political views aside, it’s clear her passion is children, and any interest in policy stems from that. However, I’m thrilled to see her using this platform in this way. Ms. Rachel is speaking truth to power, and modeling how to do that for children and their parents across the globe. She’s one of the most powerful validators of showing solidarity and living your values out there right now. I don’t care if it’s a cliché to say, America doesn’t deserve Ms. Rachel, but our children certainly do.
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ICYMI
Natalie Harp Should Concern Everyone—I Should Know, I Once Had Her Job (The New Republic)
The Architecture of Resistance: America’s Year of Taking On ICE (Mother Jones)
Liquid Death and Garage Beer Take on AI Data Centers — With Pee (MarketingDive)
Coda
To close us out, please enjoy my personal favorite Ms. Rachel song. My kids have aged out of her videos, but they still enjoy some of the songs (So does their Mom!). So this one remains in our family rotation.
Until next week…
What the hell is wrong with you?