This article originally appeared here, at dailycaller.com

Democratic Virginia Lt. Gov. candidate Ghazala Hashmi said she doesn’t “really care” if children have access to sexually explicit materials in schools.

Hashmi, a state senator, made the comment during a 2023 Public Education Subcommittee discussion on Senate Bill SB1463 — legislation that would require all public and school libraries in Virginia to place parental advisory labels on books containing sexually explicit content that are accessible to minors. 

The bill requires all public and school libraries in Virginia to place parental advisory labels on books containing sexually explicit content that are accessible to minors.

“We seem to focus on sexual explicit material. I don’t really care about that,” she said in the meeting.

The Hashmi campaign did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

During the meeting, Republican state Sen. Amanda Chase mentioned a proposal from a separate bill that would require school libraries to label books containing sexual content so parents could more easily identify age-appropriate material.

Representatives from the Virginia School Librarians Association and the Virginia Library Association opposed the proposal, defending librarians’ discretion and arguing that parents should take responsibility for monitoring what their children read.

Chase countered that many parents — especially mothers with multiple children — don’t have time to review every book and said content labels would give them a simple way to protect their kids from inappropriate material.

Hashmi cut off Chase’s questioning, saying, “I think we won’t engage in a debate,” before thanking the Virginia Library Association and inviting anyone else to speak in opposition.

When no one did, Hashmi offered her own remarks.

“I’ll just say one of my concerns is violence,” she said. “We seem to focus on sexual explicit material. I don’t really care about that; I care about the gratuitous violence that children are exposed to — not necessarily through books, but through all of the other social media. I think that does far greater harm to our children.”

The resurfaced comments come after Republican Lt. Gov. candidate John Reid staged a mock debate Tuesday featuring an AI-generated stand-in for Hashmi after he said she refused to debate him.

Hashmi’s campaign on Tuesday released a TV and digital ad accusing Reid of planning to close public schools and divert taxpayer funds to private institutions. Reid responded by calling the ad “false” and accusing Hashmi of repeatedly dodging debates.