A video being amplified by Michigan Republican Party Co-chair Meshawn Maddock is drawing notice for its threatening language.
The 90-second video, posted last week on the Facebook page for the Hillsdale County Republican Party, was then reposted by Maddock, who commented, “So GREAT!! God Bless you Hillsdale ♥️.”
The leadership of the Hillsdale GOP has been in dispute since an August schism between two competing groups, each claiming to be the “official” Hillsdale County Republican Party.
The video, which begins with the phrases, “The Hillsdale Republican Party vs Everybody” and “Grassroots Love vs Everybody” then proceeds to show pictures of Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with the phrase, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” That’s followed by a picture of their respective GOP opponents; Kristina Karamo, Matthew DePerno and Tudor Dixon, saying they’re “Gonna Cut You Down.”
All the while, Johnny Cash’s song of the same name plays in the background.
Intermixed in the montage is a picture of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a Holocaust survivor who has become a frequent target of right-wing antisemitic rhetoric.
The Anti-Defamation League says such use of Soros’ imagery plays into “longstanding antisemitic myths, particularly the notion that rich and powerful Jews work behind the scenes, plotting to control countries and manipulate global events.”
The video then shows a montage listing 26 Michigan counties, each with the phrase “Is Gonna Cut You Down” underneath. The counties range from Oakland to Hillsdale and are in no discernible order or classification.
The video then closes with, “Thou Shalt Not Steal, Vote Conservative, Vote No on All Proposals, Vote No on All Millages, November 8th.”
The video was posted the same week that a trial began in Jackson County for three men charged as being accessories to a 2020 plot to kidnap and assassinate Gov. Whitmer.
Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar are charged with various counts, including providing material support for a terrorist act. All three were members of a paramilitary group known as the Wolverine Watchmen, which prosecutors say trained to attack Whitmer’s northern Michigan vacation home, open fire on her security detail and then kidnap her.
Two men have already been convicted in the plot, while two others pleaded guilty. An initial trial found two others not guilty.
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