GOP LONE WOLF
While we are on the topic of Rep. Donni Steele, props to her for being the only Republican elected state official we could find to call out fellow Oakland County state Representative Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) for a racist/antiSemitic X (formerly Twitter) reposting from MAGA-influencer Jack Posobiec. Days later, Steele was joined by Republican Sen. John Damoose strongly criticizing the House member. The Schriver post promoted the “replacement” conspiracy theory that the White population in America is being replaced, as part of a concerted effort, by immigrants of color, Jews or Blacks – take your pick. This conspiracy theory got its first national major exposure with the 2017 Unite the Right gathering in Charlottesville (of which Trump claimed participants were “very fine people”) and it’s been in the manifestoes or public postings of those who have committed any number of mass shootings at churches, synagogues and public places. Schriver’s X social media site seems like an example of what one would expect from someone straight off the Christian nationalist mothership. Steele was in the good company of Democrats who have criticized the Schriver posting, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov Garlin Gilchrist and the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, Lavora Barnes. Said Steele: “All people have a moral obligation to speak out against hate whenever it rears its ugly head – this is one of those times.” But the shaming seemed to fall on deaf ears as Schriver posted that he is now the victim of “racist attacks” by critics and a media crowd that is trying to “start a race war” – a wack-job response if there ever was one. His social media response may well have prompted House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) to reassign Schriver’s staff, remove him from one committee and ordered resources from another committee to be withheld from the errant House member.