In terms of exposure, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks' (R-Huntsville) appearance on "Fox News Sunday" was important for his U.S. Senate campaign.
Not only did his national television interview with host Sandra Smith air in every media market in Alabama, but it also was replayed twice on Fox News Channel later on Sunday.
Despite the Memorial Day holiday, Brooks' appearance made waves in the political world on Sunday for what was at times a contentious interview with Smith.
Brooks, who is facing former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt on the U.S. Senate Republican runoff election ballot in June, addressed an earlier statement regarding last week's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Earlier in the week, Brooks tied the Uvalde tragedy and other mass shootings to single-parent households in America. He doubled down on it during his "Fox News Sunday" appearance.
"So, to that point, this week, you suggested just that, what you believe is behind the rising number of mass shootings in America," Smith said. "You said this: It reflects poorly on liberal policies that encourage out-of-wedlock childbirth, divorce, single-parent households and amoral values that undermine respect for life. Mass killings that are common in America today were, as you just stated, when I grew up, a very rare thing. The way to prevent mass killings, you say, is to restore moral values.
"I'll dig into that more in just a second, but does that statement, sir, unfairly blame single-parent households in his country for the rise of mass shootings?"
"Absolutely not," Brooks replied. "It blames moral values' decline in the United States of America, and there are a lot of factors that have contributed to our moral decline. By way of example, all the studies I've ever seen suggest that children who are raised with just one parent around, they don't do as well by the time they become adults. Why? Because it's almost impossible for a single parent to do the kind of job that two parents collectively can do. It's just a numbers game. And there are a lot of single parents that do an excellent job raising their kids, but they are super parents, and I thank them for the effort that they've put forth in producing children who later become responsible adults.
"But unfortunately, the data is very clear: those single-parent households, for whatever reason, end up resulting in children who are more likely to be on welfare, who are less likely to get the kind of grades you expect to get in school, or more likely to be involved in drugs, and unfortunately, are more likely to be involved in criminal conduct. That's just the data. And that's not to say that all single parents do that, okay? That is not the data. We're talking about probabilities and tendencies and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 percent greater probability that has an effect on society."
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com.
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