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Maddie Block, like lots of other people, has a complicated relationship with her dad. Also like a lot of other people, she’s going viral on TikTok about it — though maybe for a less usual reason. In a video viewed over 1.6 million times, Block, the 28-year-old daughter of New Mexico State Senator Jay Block, speculates to the camera about why her father and other state-level politicians took what she calls a “propaganda trip” to Israel.
“My dad and a bunch of other loser politicians from New Mexico went to meet with Netanyahu, and I don’t know what they could possibly discuss,” she says in the TikTok. “How does meeting with Netanyahu help the local people of New Mexico?”
In response to a request for comment, State Sen. Jay Block denied the visit was for propaganda purposes and said of the allegations in Block’s TikTok, “The trip to Israel was not funded by taxpayers, nor was I bribed or compensated by Israel to attend.” (Editor's Note: Block has previously said the trip was “entirely paid for by the Israeli government,” according to local New Mexico newspaper the Rio Rancher Observer.)
Last week, the largest-ever delegation of state legislators from all 50 states traveled to Israel; according to the Jerusalem Post, the point of the visit was reportedly to “underscor[e] their message that support for Israel in the U.S. is a matter of national consensus.” American support for providing arms to Israel in its ongoing war on Gaza is at 32%, an all-time low. A few days after the U.S. delegation to Israel arrived, the New Mexico House Speaker condemned the Israeli military during a press conference.
This isn’t Block’s first public political disagreement with her father; she tells Teen Vogue that initially, she spoke out about him after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which began her efforts to publicize her dad’s policy record. She’s written publicly about not being on speaking terms with him. At the end of her recent two-minute video, Block says she hopes this trip is the end of her dad’s political career: “He is clearly not somebody who has his constituents’ best interests in mind.”
In the wake of going viral (though not for the first time), Teen Vogue caught up with Block to discuss what it’s like to be the child of a politician, how it feels to speak out against her dad, and where her relationship with her dad stands now.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Maddie Block: [It’s] a really strange position to be in sometimes, especially when my dad's politics are much different than mine. It's been challenging to see my dad in positions of power where he's able to make decisions that impact a lot of people in ways that I think are, unfortunately, negative.
MB: [W]hen Roe v Wade was overturned, I remember seeing his Twitter, and he was celebrating that. I just remember thinking, there's going to be so many women who are hurt by this. To be anti-abortion, and to want to force women to have babies that they either don't want or can't take care of, and yet he doesn't speak to his own children – the hypocrisy to me was astounding.
MB: What struck me as really strange is the fact that he is a state senator. He doesn't vote on legislation that impacts foreign policy. As a state senator, to my understanding, his job is limited to the state of New Mexico. To be going to Israel, and for the Israeli government to be inviting state senators and state representatives on what appears to be a propaganda trip, that was why I spoke out about it.
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I think it's probably gaining traction because there's a lot of people who are afraid to speak out about this, especially under the current administration being so pro-Israel. I think that it's something that needs to be questioned, and [this is] something that people should be aware of.
MB: Having a large platform like that is very new and feels a little strange, just because I'm not an expert. I'm not a politician. I'm not an elected official. I'm just a regular person who just happens to make videos about these things.
The purpose of those videos when I talk about my dad and the things that he does as a state senator, or in his previous role as a county commissioner, was more to just bring awareness of that to voters because, yes, he's my dad — but he's also an elected official. People in his district or people in his state should be aware of those things. I have the unique perspective of being his daughter. I do know him pretty well, and I do know his views pretty well, just because I was raised by him with those views
MB: I still love my dad, of course. It does upset me that I think he has such a blatant disregard for human rights. I assume that he has higher political aspirations just because he ran for governor a few years ago. He's in the state senate in New Mexico now. I don't think he's stopping anytime soon. Knowing what his views are and that he can cause real harm, that's what compels me to speak out.
It is hard because at the end of the day, he's still my dad. I know that as I do this, there's not going to be really any hope, I think, of repairing that relationship, even though I would love for that to happen.
