PayPal Unfreezes Moms for Liberty Funds After DeSantis Announces Crackdown on ‘Woke’ Banking

Published Aug. 1, 2022, 4:36 p.m. ET | Updated Aug. 1, 2022

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August 1, 2022 Updated 4:35 P.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Moms for Liberty said PayPal unfroze the money in the group’s account following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement last week that Florida would crack down on “woke” banking.

Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 by parents and former school board members. Their mission focuses on defending parental rights with a massive grassroots network of parents across the country.

Moms for Liberty Co-Founder Tina Descovich said the organization had operated on PayPal for more than a year before running into the most recent problems.

Many of their donors would give monthly automatically through PayPal. However, Descovich said PayPal sent notifications that they froze the organization’s accounts during Governor DeSantis’s speech at Moms for Liberty National Summit July 15th.

“While he’s speaking, I started getting emails during that PayPal has stopped processing one by one all of our monthly donors,” Descovich said.

PayPal also froze the organization’s $4,500 and would not let them transfer the money out. PayPal told Descovich that they could not operate on the platform until the IRS approved the organization’s paperwork. However, Descovich said they PayPal had already accepted the paperwork they filed with the IRS, which is backlogged, in January of 2021.

“I emailed,” Descovich explained. “I tried calling again and get another person and they said sorry, there’s nothing you can do.”

PayPal suddenly released the funds after Governor DeSantis’ press conference announcing he wants legislation passed to prohibit transmitters like PayPal from discriminating against customers for their religious, political or social beliefs. Descovich had spoken about her PayPal experience at the press conference.

“I do think it helps. I have no other explanation why I have no messages from PayPal that they reversed anything. I have not sent them any more documents to change the status,” Descovich said. “So the only thing I have to point to is that they saw the governor’s press conference and decided to change their minds.”

The governor also wants the proposed legislation to apply to Wall Street banks and credit card companies.

“They’re using things like social credit scores to be able to marginalize people that they don’t like,” DeSantis said Thursday.

Gov. DeSantis Takes Stand Against ‘Woke’ Standards that are ‘Politicizing’ the Economy, Targeting Disfavored Industries

DeSantis’ announcement Thursday took a stand against banks and fund managers using the “woke” environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG). The ESG criteria is used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments.

The governor said this criteria is used to target “disfavored” individuals and industries to advance a “woke” ideological agenda.

“Do we want our society to be governed by some of the most economically elite and powerful interests in society?” DeSantis asked. “And I think our economy is going to be much better off if everything is not politicized. It used to be it wasn’t a political issue. You didn’t have to take positions on every little thing.”

Governor DeSantis’ proposed legislation for the 2023 Legislative Session will:

– Prohibit big banks, credit card companies and money transmitters from discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs.

– Prohibit State Board of Administration (SBA) fund managers from considering ESG factors when investing the state’s money.

– Require SBA fund managers to only consider maximizing the return on investment on behalf of Florida’s retirees.

Gov. DeSantis Takes Stand Against ‘Woke’ Standards that are ‘Politicizing’ the Economy, Targeting Disfavored Industries

In a Tucker Carlson Tonight interview, DeSantis called on governors of both parties to band together and fight against the ESG score.

“So I would urge all my fellow governors around the country, hell, Republican or Democrat, you know, let’s band together and let’s fight back against this so we can keep power to the people,” he said.

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