AUSTIN, Texas – Nancy Thompson is a mother of three and the founder of Mothers Against Greg Abbott, a political action committee she refers to as the new MAGA.
“I had some Sharpie markers, and I wrote one line in blue and one line in red and one in blue and the other in red and then I stood back and looked at it. The acronym is MAGA,” Thompson said.
Thompson says the idea for Mothers Against Greg Abbott came about a year ago, when concerns about mask mandates in public schools were growing.
“My son was very ill and in hospital and Greg Abbott said he would not need mask mandates at school and I was very angry because my son was extremely ill. The doctors said he is being careful not to catch COVID when he goes back to school. I couldn’t sleep. I was really shocked, and I didn’t know what else to do,” Thompson recalled.
Thompson believes that moment sparked a movement that resonated with over 50,000 members who all wanted change in Texas politics. Thompson, along with the group’s fellow mothers, produce ads to express their concerns on hot topics like COVID-19, gun legislation and access to abortion care.
The group created a series of fictional videos telling the story of real issues that affect Texans. The latest video is about a doctor telling a pregnant patient that her unborn child has a life threatening problem. During the passage, the patient asks the doctor for medical advice. The doctor pauses and goes to a telephone in the room to call the governor of Texas to discuss how he should proceed.
Thompson watches one of the adverts put out by Mothers Against Greg Abbott. (Spectrum News 1/Lakisha Lemons)
“A lot of the campaigns took it from how real women feel and how we would like to fight back, so this is not a politician talking to people, this is just a real person. We’re not running for office, we’re not politicians, we’re just a group of parents who would like to make a difference,” said Thompson.
The video immediately caught fire on Twitter, drawing 7 million views in one day.
According to a 2020 study posted in the journal Science Advances, based on the 2020 presidential election, researchers found that political ads have little effect on voter choices. The study concluded that the effects of such advertising are small regardless of the context or message.
Thompson says she wants Texas mothers to be their own person.
“You don’t have to vote the same as everyone else. In order to vote for change, we have to come together because right now we know the Texas GOP has gone too far,” he said.
