| New reporting from The Detroit News details more of Thomas Smith’s extreme, disturbing record. Smith shared posts calling to “scrap the public school system” and abolish the Department of Education, backed “efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” and “compar[ed] Dr. Anthony Fauci to a Nazi…saying he should get the electric chair.”
Additionally, the report highlights how Smith is deeply out of step with Michiganders. Smith “said he opposes government regulation of artificial intelligence models or social media as it pertains to protecting minors on the internet.” Smith also called for allowing the health care marketplace to “work unobstructed” – which would presumably mean allowing the insurance and pharmaceutical companies free reign to deny Michiganders care and raise costs – and he “defended Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran,” calling it “4D chess.”
This follows previous reporting on Smith’s “almost-real time narration of Smith’s train journey from Michigan to Washington D.C. for the [January 6th] protests” which he attended; The News found deleted tweets from Smith calling January 6th “an FBI ‘deep state set up.’” Smith was caught cheering on the Proud Boys and posted more than a dozen times claiming he was “awakened at 4:30 AM with a message from God for Dan Bongino.” Again, “a message from God [to Smith] for Dan Bongino.”
DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Thomas Smith isn’t just a fringe extremist who cheers on criminals, his dangerous agenda would be disastrous for Michigan: Smith would eliminate public schools, allow insurance companies and Big Pharma free reign on the health care system, and give Big Tech and AI a free pass instead of protecting Michigan kids. The voters will resoundingly reject Smith and his basement campaign this fall.”
Read more:
Detroit News: Who is Tom Smith, surprise GOP nominee for Congress in mid-Michigan?
- New details about the surprise Republican nominee for U.S. House in mid-Michigan are emerging a month after the General Motors retiree scored an upset victory in one of the most competitive districts in the state.
- Flint small business owner Thomas J. Smith’s now-deleted social media posts shared memes seeking to “scrap the public school system,” supporting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to a Nazi, and saying he should get the electric chair.
- The accounts, named for the Jar Head Salsa business that Smith owns, also shared posts opining that President Donald Trump is “playing (and winning) the biggest game of America First-4D chess” with the Iran war and advocating to abolish the U.S. Department of Education “to protect our children from evil,” a message embedded next to an LGBTQ flag graphic.
- Smith, a fervent supporter of Trump, attended his “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021… The JarHeadSalsa account touted the conspiracy theory that the Jan. 6 attack was an FBI “deep state set up” and, earlier this year, posted that Jan. 6 protesters “were right to be there!”
- Smith has declined press interviews since his nomination, but The Detroit News obtained a recording of him speaking at a Saginaw County GOP event on Aug. 20, where he said he dropped out because he didn’t want to split the vote.
- “The way I got here was not very traditional. … We had two good, conservative Christian candidates and weren’t sure about the other one,” Smith said in reference to Hassan. “So I suspended my campaign. But you voters decided differently, and I guess the good Lord had other plans for me, too.”
- In a questionnaire that he completed for the Midland Daily News, Smith said he opposes government regulation of artificial intelligence models or social media as it pertains to protecting minors on the internet:
- Smith also defended Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran: “I believe that President Trump had the best intelligence available to know Iran was close to a nuclear weapon and their past actions showed they would use it. …. If Congress disagrees, they can defund a war.”
- Asked about health care reforms, Smith wrote that he supports “letting the marketplace work unobstructed by the government as long as the General Welfare is maintained.”
- Smith also said in the questionnaire that he would not take any campaign contributions from organizations because doing so “would violate my Christian beliefs.”
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