Why are red state governors using Democrat public relations agencies?
Conservatives are always railing against using products and services from left-wing activists, so why are some who clearly have the option of choosing otherwise not doing so? One of the most glaring areas where this is taking place is in red state governments. They hire left-wing PR and advertising agencies, giving them millions of taxpayer dollars that enables the agencies to continue attacking conservatives, helping leftist causes, and possibly even sabotaging the conservative governors they are supposed to represent.
A classic example of one of these agencies is New York-based MMGY NJF, one of the largest PR companies for tourism offices in the country. It was founded by Democrat Nancy Friedman. Her Twitter feed is full of progressive posts, including retweeting Rachel Maddow and David Hogg. She gave money to Kamala Harris and the DNC in 2020.
MMGY NJF Vice President Danny Guerrero’s Twitter account is no different. He retweeted Joy Behar urging Beto O’Rourke to run against Ted Cruz, and another person gloating that the Military Band played “Hit the Road Jack” outside the White House on President Trump’s last day. He also retweeted Robert Reich wanting to impeach Trump 10 days before the inauguration. MMGY gave Guerrero a big award this month.
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So who uses MMGY besides the typical woke areas of the country like West Hollywood? Surprisingly, Texas and South Dakota, both states with conservative Republican governors. South Dakota and Travel Texas are proudly listed as two of their clients. Their contract with South Dakota is valued at over $20.7 million. Visit Rapid City also uses the agency.
MMGY recently bragged that Travel Texas and Visit Florida, Florida’s tourism office, are funding its woke study examining the “intersectionality” of “LatinX” tourism. It’s entitled “Latinx U.S. Travelers: Observations and Insights on Themes of Diaspora and Intersectionality.” Intersectionality is a Marxist term that means looking at political issues in terms of identity, viewing everyone as a white male, a queer transgender, etc., and how privilege and discrimination apply. LatinX is a made-up term referring to Hispanics, which MMGY defines as a “gender-neutral” term. One Hispanic was so offended he wrote an article for USA Today denouncing the made-up word.
Profits from the study’s sale will be donated to Travel Unity. Travel Unity puts on events featuring woke speakers such as Brandan Robertson, a “trusted voice on progressive faith and politics.” Speaker Adrienne Lee worked for a global social justice organization and has a love for “intersectional environmentalism.” Sara Emmert managed communications and public relations for the New York State Legislature Democratic caucus members and for Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. And speaker Alanah Keddell-Tuckey is a public outreach specialist for New York’s DEC’s Office of Environmental Justice. The list is devoid of conservative speakers, but is full of leftwing pundits. After the announcement, Visit Florida was scrubbed off of MMGY’s website as a sponsor. Maybe they wised up? Before MMGY, Texas used Edelman, the firm of Steve Schmidt of Lincoln Project infamy.
Democrats are great about hiring each other and “canceling” Republicans. So why are these conservative governors hiring MMGY? There are plenty of conservative PR agencies who would love the work and may desperately need it due to the ravages of cancel culture.
Why are tax dollars in red states going to such an openly progressive agency?
However, some levels of government are doing the right thing and pushing back. North Carolina's Surry County Commissioners recently announced that the county is banning Coke machines after Coke issued a statement denouncing Georgia’s new voting integrity laws.
Also, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may have finally put the lid on MMGY. Now it’s time for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to do the same. If they don’t, MMGY will be like a ball and chain following them around if they run for higher office. It may seem like a small move to dump the agency, but every little bit counts pushing back against the woke progressives’ indoctrination. And since they control so many areas of society, fighting piecemeal may be our only option.
Rachel is the editor for intellectualconservative.com and an attorney.
