A Michigan Republican who made crude remarks about the hypothetical rape of his own daughters previously promoted political violence and QAnon conspiracy theories.
The state's GOP called on Robert “RJ” Regan to apologize for saying that he'd told his daughters “if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it," but the statehouse candidate from Grand Rapids has a history of spreading conspiracy theories about Dr. Anthony Fauci and COVID-19 vaccines and right-wing QAnon fantasies about a cabal of elite pedophiles, reported Bridge Michigan.
“Mr. Regan’s history of foolish, egregious and offensive comments, including his most recent one are simply beyond the pale," said state GOP chair Ron Weiser. "We are better than this as a party and I absolutely expect better than this of our candidates.”
Regan won an upset victory last week in a special primary election for the solidly Republican 74th District, where Kent County GOP chair Rob VerHeulen also said he was disgusted by the comments.
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"These comments are offensive, dangerous and unbecoming of any candidate for public office," VerHeulen said.
The left-leaning Media Matters for America uncovered previous online activity by Regan referring to the COVID-19 vaccines as "genocide" and calling for the lynchings of Fauci and others, and he also voiced endorsement of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
"What it's doing is it's exposing the depth and breadth of the corruption that's been going on in the government, not just financial corruption by the (child sex) trafficking that's been going on and the drugs and the murders," Regan says in a video posted in February 2021. "I just keep getting encouraged each week that more and more and more of this is in fact true."
Other posts show Regan backing Russia in its war on Ukraine and endorsing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, although fellow GOP candidate Michael Shallal, a Sterling Heights man who's running in the 57th District, came to his defense.
“[He is] constitutional conservative representing the only type of Republican that can transition America from globalist managed ruin to restoration," Shallal wrote. “The investment level in deceit evidences they will engage in character-assassination to silence those speaking truth and threatening their stranglehold on power existing at the expense of our state and nation."
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