The Michigan GOP chair who believes Beyoncé is spreading paganism and that demonic possession is "real" has stepped into yet another controversy.
Speaking at a party function, Michigan GOP Chairwoman Kristina Karamo mocked criticism of a tweet she wrote in which she used the Holocaust to promote the Second Amendment, according to a recording obtained by the Daily Beast. The tweet repeated a common right-wing theory that the genocide was possible because gun control had left its victims unarmed.
It showed a picture of wedding rings that had been left behind by murdered Jews. "Before they collected all these wedding rings... they collected all the guns," a message next to the image reads.
The tweet was roundly criticized, with the Michigan GOP being asked to take it down.
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But, in remarks to the Lincoln Day dinner, Karamo said the fuss over it was “hilarious, completely hilarious.”
“They’re still going on and on about that,” she said. “‘Are you going to apologize?’ I’m like really, are you guys still going on about this? I get this mail and it’s about how I’m encouraging white supremacy and xenophobia all this… I just laugh so hard.”
“Us being armed is not about stopping a burglar,” she added. “It’s not about hunting. It’s about stopping a tyrannical government. And if you know a thing or two about history, we know that governments have a tendency to be very abusive to the citizenry.”
Karamo's fringe beliefs were largely blamed for a failed run for Secretary of State in 2022, but she went on to be tapped as state party chair. The state is a crucial 2024 battleground for the presidency, and also has an open-seat U.S. Senate contest that could help decide the majority.
But the prominence of MAGA figures and conspiracists in the state party has left many party insiders worried.
“It’s dangerous and it’s concerning, because there’s been some very famous violent actions and threats of violence from some of these militia extremist groups, but we’re seeing not just dotted lines or offshoots, but direct connections between those same groups and the Michigan Republican Party,” former Michigan GOP chair Jeff Timmer told the Beast.
“It’s not just lone wolf action,” Timmer said of extremism in Michigan. “It’s becoming part and parcel of what it means to be in the party.”
