Democrats reject bigotry and lies and uplift Biden-Harris accomplishments
LANSING — This week, while the Wall Street Journal and members of the MIGOP painted a picture of Michigan that was racist, immoral, and flat-out wrong, Democrats led the charge to remind the country exactly what Michigan values and our communities stand for.
First, Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal published a repugnant op-ed that attempted to smear Dearborn and our fellow Michiganders with racist, bigoted rhetoric. Then, Republican MAGA state Representative Josh Shriver spread racist theories espoused by Neo-Nazis and mass murderers — yet Republican leadership has said nothing.
Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that so-called “leaders” like MAGA Matt Hall would be silent on this issue given his own record of racist rhetoric. Michigan Democrats at every level responded by sounding the alarm and showing what we stand for by calling out hate everywhere we see it.
While Republicans were overtaken by another week of racism and hatred, Democrats continued to focus on connecting with Michiganders and highlighted just how much we have delivered from Lansing to the White House. We were happy to have had Pete Buttigieg stump for the Biden-Harris campaign in Grand Rapids and Lansing, where he took part in a phone bank, met constituents and union workers, and emphasized the importance of getting out the vote for Biden ahead of the presidential primary. Everywhere he went, Buttigieg underscored the stakes of the coming election and the impact it will have on Michiganders’ lives.
Take a look below at how Democrats stood for the values that Michiganders hold dear in the face of conservative bigotry this week:
When an opinion piece in Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal attempted to spread dangerous rhetoric about Dearborn and the Michiganders that live in these great communities, Michigan Democrats and President Biden showed up for our Arab and Muslim neighbors to slam the racist characterization of Dearborn by the WSJ op-ed:
In response to the piece, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes said:
“The Murdoch Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of the disgusting and dangerous language it chose to spread over the weekend. Dearborn is an incredible community that represents the strength of Michiganders everywhere. This type of bigoted rhetoric puts our Muslim and Arab Neighbors at risk, and we at the Michigan Democratic Party condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Hate and racism have no place in Michigan, and we stand firmly in solidarity with our Arab and Muslim communities.”
Detroit News: Biden condemns ‘anti-Arab hate’ after WSJ piece calls Dearborn ‘America’s Jihad Capital’
- “This is more than irresponsible journalism,” Hammoud said in the statement. “Publishing such inflammatory writing puts Dearborn residents at increased risk for harm.”
- Michigan politicians quickly condemned the WSJ piece, including the governor and U.S. Sens. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who said the column is “outrageous, dangerous and just plain wrong!”
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud
Sadly, the racism inflicted on our community this week didn’t stop there. Republican MAGA state Rep. Josh Schriver also spent the week spreading dangerous hate after he posted support for a blatantly disgusting and racist theory on his social media that is deeply disturbing coming from anyone, let alone an elected official – which he continues to double down on.
Democrats across the state are calling out Rep. Schriver’s ignorance while Republican leadership refuses to say anything – and let us be clear: as long as they remain silent, they are tacitly endorsing this horrifying rhetoric:
WLNS: Lawmaker criticized for ‘blatantly racist’ post
- State Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) re-posted a map on Feb. 6 allegedly showing where white people live in comparison with communities of color across the world. At the bottom of the map it declares “The great replacement!”…
- Lavora Barnes issued a statement late Thursday afternoon criticizing Schriver’s post. “Even after being called out for his grotesque post, just today, Rep. Schriver is still spreading Great Replacement rhetoric,” she said in a news statement. “This type of hate has no place in Michigan and must be called out any time it rears its ugly head. And yet, Michigan Republicans remain silent…”
The Detroit News: ‘Blatantly racist’: Michigan Democrats condemn GOP lawmaker’s ‘great replacement’ post
- Democratic lawmakers are condemning a social media post from Republican state Rep. Josh Schriver of Oxford that promoted “the great replacement” theory, a racist ideological belief that there’s a coordinated global effort to diminish the influence of White people…
- House Speaker Joe Tate, a Detroit Democrat and Michigan’s first Black speaker, said Schriver’s “blatantly racist social media post” and later statement on the issue do not align with the chamber’s values and are “deeply and personally” offensive.
All of this hate underscored the clear choice in the coming election – Democrats have Michiganders’ backs. Michigan Democratic leaders, with the Biden-Harris administration, have continually delivered more for Michiganders than the other side ever could, as Pete Buttigieg highlighted this week when he stumped for Biden-Harris in Grand Rapids and Lansing.
Buttigieg took part in a phone bank to energize voters, met members of the community and union workers, and emphasized the importance of getting out the vote for Biden ahead of the presidential primary on February 27th:
WNEM: Buttigieg Meets With Union Members in Michigan
WPBN: Buttigieg Campaigns in Michigan for President Biden
Michigan Advance: Buttigieg emphasizes importance of Michigan’s early primary importance during labor roundtable
- Buttigieg said Biden is committed to continuing to campaign for the Democratic nomination “even if commentators say it’s a done deal,” in part to show that “we really recognize and take seriously Michigan’s role as an early primary state…”
- “You can use it to work out all the kinks in the organizing apparatus,” Gilchrist said. “Make no mistake about it, come November, we have to have all hands on deck. We can start doing it this month, we can have another go at it in August, because come November, everything needs to be firing on all cylinders.”
Oh, and one last reminder before we head into Super Bowl weekend. Let’s not forget that during the 2012 Super Bowl, Pete Hoekstra – who is now back and attempting to be the standard bearer of the failing MIGOP – released one of the most racist political ads in living memory…this guy remains an insult to Michigan values and should be disqualified from any role of leadership:
While we don’t anticipate these far-right extremists stopping their full-fledged campaign to spread conspiracy theories and misinformation with hopes of undermining democracy any time soon, what Michiganders can trust is that Michigan Democrats are here, and we will be fighting back every step of the way, celebrating how great our state is and working to deliver for all Michiganders. Til next week.
Signing off,
Michigan Dems
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