LANSING — In case you missed it, after Democrats spent the week delivering at scale for their constituents, passing an historic budget with dozens of programs to uplift Michigan’s middle class, Republicans spent their weekend getting into a physical fight during a controversial committee meeting.
This brawl comes on the heels of ongoing chaos within the Michigan GOP, as Kristina Karamo convened the Saturday meeting to address protests from her members over her removing a budget committee chair who questioned her internal spending.
This is not even the first physical altercation to break out amongst members of the Michigan GOP – in April, Kalamazoo Republican Party Chair Kelly Sackett and Macomb County GOP Secretary Melissa Pehlis threw drinks, phones and hands at each other over an argument about Karamo.
Importantly, Republicans in the state legislature have remained silent. As Karamo leads the Michigan GOP further into disarray, we continue to wonder where Minority Leader Matt Hall stands and if he will make any attempts to control his party, or if he will wait silently by the sidelines as party infighting turns physical.
Don’t just take it from us – watch and read the far-reaching coverage about the Michigan GOP’s literal infighting below:
MSNBC: Republicans brawl at Michigan GOP meeting
MSNBC: In key battleground state, GOP shows new signs of unraveling
- The state GOP is currently led by Kristina Karamo, a notorious election denier who fell far short in her Michigan secretary of state campaign last year. She’s perhaps best known for sharing concerns about “demonic possession,” which she said can spread from person to person through intimate relationships.
- The state GOP also recently invoked the Nazi Holocaust while condemning efforts to prevent gun violence.
- It’s against this backdrop that there have been literal fights at two recent Michigan Republican Party gatherings.
Huffington Post: Republican Figures Brawl In Wild Ball-Kicking, Rib-Cracking Battle In Michigan
- A Republican meeting in Michigan turned into fight night on Saturday when two local GOP figures got into a physical brawl over access to the event.
- It’s at least the second physical altercation at a Michigan GOP event in recent months.
The Independent: Violent brawl breaks out at Michigan GOP committee meeting
- While the scuffles may be verbal as leading Republicans jostle to become the party’s 2024 presidential nominee, down at the state level things have actually turned physical — at least in Michigan, and not for the first time.
Rolling Stone: ‘He Kicked Me in My Balls.’ Fight at Michigan GOP Meeting Turns Physical: Report
- Michigan Republicans have been struggling to find a path forward after losing control of the state’s legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years. State Chair Kristina Karamo, an election denier, has been fighting with the party co-chair over budget issues.
- Karamo also refused to concede her loss in Michigan’s 2022 secretary of state race, and she, along with others, was ordered to pay more than $58,000 in legal fees for bringing a baseless lawsuit challenging absentee votes in Detroit.
- The state of the Michigan GOP is so chaotic, this isn’t even the first physical altercation at a state party meeting this year. In April, police were called when two Republicans got into a fight.
Salon: “He kicked me in my balls”: Michigan Republicans brawl at local meeting
- A Saturday meeting of Michigan’s GOP state committee reportedly resulted in one person being sent to the emergency room after a brawl broke out at the host hotel.
- Although the dust-up took place outside the actual meeting room, members inside got an eye full.
Detroit News: Scuffle breaks out at Michigan GOP state committee meeting
- Michigan Republicans have been openly feuding over the party’s direction and the leadership approach of new Chairwoman Kristina Karamo.
- The scuffle intensified with Chapman running at DeYoung and slamming him into a chair, DeYoung said.
- DeYoung said he had suffered a broken rib.
Bridge Michigan: Kicked in groin, Republican downplays party feud: ‘Some people are crazy’
- The chair of the Clare County Republican Party says he is “a little sore” but recovering from suspected stress fractures in his back following a physical altercation at a contentious Michigan GOP meeting in Clare.
- “That closed meeting had no business happening,” Chapman told Bridge on Monday. “Kristina (Karamo) ran on transparency in connection with the delegates. You can’t do that by having a closed meeting.”
###
