Cash-strapped Michigan GOP doubles down on election denial with guest speakers at annual conference

Michigan Republicans are doubling down even more on election denial despite a string of losses and financial problems plaguing the statewide party.

Right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and failed Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were announced as speakers for the Michigan GOP's annual leadership conference planned for Sept. 22-24 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, and the party hinted more speakers could be added to the event, reported MLive.

“They will challenge the status quo,” said the party’s conference website. “As we prepare to win in 2024 these conversations will push our party to a new level of excellence and cultural understanding.”

Candidates who endorsed Donald Trump's 2020 election lies won fewer than one in six races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state in last year's election cycle, but Michigan's Republican Party has embraced election deniers -- including party chair Kristina Karamo.

Karamo, like D'Souza and Lake, has falsely claimed that Trump lost his re-election campaign due to fraud.

“It’s not a credible belief that is subject to evidence anymore,” said Josh Pasek, an associate professor of communication and media and political science at the University of Michigan. “People just want to be able to wave something that helps validate their feelings.”

D'Souza, who previously spread "birther" conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, produced the film "2000 Mules" that presented unsubstantiated claims about Trump's election loss, while Lake continues to insist her own election was stolen despite losing multiple court challenges.