VIDEO: Sen. Mallory McMorrow Responds To Colleague Accusing Her Of "Grooming" Kids

(CNN) - A Democratic Michigan State Senator is fighting back against a Republican colleague who accused her in a fundraising email of grooming and sexualizing children.

Sen. Mallory McMorrow says the unfounded allegation by Sen. Lana Theis was a response to McMorrow standing up for the LGBTQ community, a group McMorrow says Theis has marginalized.

McMorrow took to the Senate floor for a full 5-minutes on Tuesday to defend herself from the attack.

She says Theis' accusations are rooted in a broader national campaign to use polarizing concepts like critical race theory to attack the LGBTQ community and others while painting critics as villains.

McMorrow says this is all part of Theis' "hollow, hateful scheme" and she's misleading her own supporters with her claims.

"Part of the point I tried to make in this speech is that people like Senator Theis are taking advantage of her own supporters by lying to them...by trying to convince people that all of the problems in your life with your cost of health care or the roads or prices at the gas pump...that it is somehow somebody else's fault. That if you can redirect your hatred and anger that's going to fix it, and it's not," McMorrow said.

McMorrow's speech went viral after she posted it on social media.

The Michigan Democratic Party and national Democrats have criticized Theis for her allegations.

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