During an interview on Fox News, pharmaceutical heir Annabella Rockwell claimed she fell victim to "wokeism" while in college and her mother hired a "cult deprogrammer" to bring her back into the Republican fold.
Rockwell—who works for nonprofit advocacy group PragerU, which creates videos promoting a conservative viewpoint on various political, economic and sociological topics—told Fox News personality Tucker Carlson college left her "sad" and "anxious" until her mother stepped in.
Rockwell then proceeded to stump for her employer, saying she was able to unlearn "wokeism" with the help of PragerU, which she said she discovered one day on her social media feed.
You can hear what Rockwell said in the video below.
Rockwell said:
"As time went on and I studied history, I became completely brainwashed into believing that I was depressed by our toxic, patriarchal society and I left school. I was sad, anxious, intellectually starving, and by 2015, when I graduated, I completely estranged myself from my family."
After Carlson claimed "the real cost" of a college education is it teaches students not to "love their parents anymore," Rockwell explained how she got "better."
"So in this panic of me not communicating with my mother, she consulted a cult specialist. This person gave her devastating statistics that most people don't make it out but [there was] a glimmer of hope that it tends to be young women who do."
"So she spoke to him and he made it very clear to her: 'Do not affirm your daughter's newfound identity. You know her best. She is your child. Don't affirm her.'"
"So she was taught how to communicate with me. Now, to actually be deprogrammed, I had to humble myself."
"[I did] A couple of things. I reconnected with my family. I moved home. I asked for forgiveness. I admitted I was wrong."
"Secondly, I made a lifestyle change. I stopped drinking. I started to believe in God again."
"And lastly, I had to unlearn my four years of wokeism by watching five-minute PragerU videos online for free."
Carlson laughed in response, adding college is "a cult" aiming to "separate you from the people who love you most."
He went on to praise Rockwell's mother for "deprogramming" her and commended Rockwell herself for "speaking out."
The interview felt more like an advertisement for PragerU, which was founded by right-wing radio host Dennis Prager, who made headlines over the summer for publishing an op-ed in which he accused women of "hurting the country" with their "emotions."
Many criticized Rockwell.
Rockwell first spoke about her experience extricating herself from "wokeism" in a recent interview with the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid New York Post.
Rockwell, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, said she had been "brainwashed" by the school into believing she is a victim of patriarchal oppression and said until she took classes at the school, she had never actually experienced sexism.
Her mother, Melinda Rockwell, told the Post she hired a $300 a day deprogrammer after becoming so frustrated with her daughter she "smashed a vase through a window at her home in Florida and into drywall another time."
