MIGOP, Trump-endorsed Karamo blames Jan. 6 insurrection on Antifa, calls Capitol police and other testifiers ‘actors’
Karamo: RINO-Republicans are ‘traitors,’ Democrats are ‘satanic’
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Republican Party today endorsed an inexperienced extremist for Secretary of State who denies the results of the 2020 General Election, peddles debunked conspiracy theories, and calls mainstream Republicans who don’t agree with her, “traitors.” Endorsed by former President Trump, Kristina Karamo has also dismissed as “actors and actresses,” police officers who testified before congress and who were brutally beaten by Trump supporters during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“As someone who peddles in conspiracy theories, denies the 2020 election results and spreads lies about the Jan 6th insurrection, Kristina Karamo shouldn’t be allowed within 100 miles of the Secretary of State’s office for which she has been endorsed by the Michigan GOP,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes. “Kristina Karamo is a fear-spreading, inexperienced extremist who brands Republicans who disagree with her as ‘traitors’ and Democrats as much worse.
“Michigan needs leaders like Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson who pull us together and are focused on delivering results, rather than inflaming divisions,” Barnes added.
Karamo refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election. She falsely claims Trump won Michigan and frequently repeats the “big lie” and baseless claims of election fraud even though evidence, including an official and thorough Michigan Senate Republican report that debunked all claims of fraud. Karamo also dismisses Republicans who don’t support her extremist and divisive agenda as “traitors” and labels Democrats “satanic.”
In a Jan. 6 podcast Karamo claimed that Antifa, an anarchist group, and other provocateurs posed as Trump supporters and incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol, repeating a lie spread by right-wing media for which there is noevidence. Many people who were themselves involved at the insurrection have refuted those claims and blaming Antifa is widely-seen as a tactic to exonerate Trump from all responsibility.
At a Frankenmuth event July 30, 2021 Karamo dismissed frontline police officers and others who testified before Congress about the Capitol attack as “actors and actresses,” which repeats a right-wing conspiracy theory that the officers were so-called “crisis actors.” The officers who testified included a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol police force, an Army veteran who had been a Capitol police sergeant for three years at the time of the attack, and a 20-year veteran of the Washington D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. Multiple police officers who defended the Capitol on that day, have died in connection with the insurrection.
In addition to spreading debunked claims about election fraud, Karamo also signed onto a fraudulent lawsuit in the Michigan Supreme Court challenging the 2020 election.
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