Far-right Republican Florida candidate for Congress Kelli Stargel has many supporters--but her daughter is emphatically not among them.
Stargel, an ultra-conservative who just helped pass one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation in Florida, is now running for the House of Representatives.
And her daughter Hannah is doing everything she can to make sure she doesn't win.
In an instantly viral TikTok, Hannah Stargel slammed Kelli Stargel as a hypocrite who advocates for family values but engaged in neglectful and abusive parenting tactics.
Hannah urged people not to vote for the woman she calls the "worst mom ever."
In her TikTok, Hannah Stargel listed off a string of her mother's extreme political accomplishments in Florida, including a 15-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest and laws targeting trans children in school sports.
She also described mistreatment she suffered on the part of her mother, who she says frequently left her in the care of neighbors during legislative sessions and strictly disciplining her, including by withholding food unless she went to church with her.
In an interview with The Advocate after her clip went viral, Hannah detailed how her mother's anti-LGBTQ+ politics worsened after she came out as bisexual to her parents, even as Kelli Stargel claimed to support her daughter.
Hannah says she came out to her mother during a heated discussion in which Kelli Stargel repeatedly made bigoted comments about LGBTQ+ people.
Hannah responded:
"Do you not realize I’m gay? When you talk about ‘they’ and ‘them,’ that’s me."
After the initial shock wore off, however, Kelli Stargel was supportive of her daughter for a time.
Hannah told The Advocate:
"For a while, every time she brought cookies or treats, they were rainbow as a peace offering."
But such "peace offerings" had no impact on Kelli Stargel's politics. She continued to be increasingly radical in her approach to LGBTQ+ people's rights, which Hannah finds wildly hypocritical.
"You can’t buy rainbow cookies and then pass laws against children in the community."
On TikTok, Hannah's video generated no shortage of shock and outrage.
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Others expressed support for Stargel and applauded her for speaking out against her mother.
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Stargel also told The Advocate that she is – unsurprisingly – not on speaking terms with her parents.
But she is absolutely using her voice to speak to the rest of us in the hopes of ensuring her mother does not win a seat in Congress.
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