Detmer Again Faces Criticism, This Time for Downplaying Racism
At an event last week in front of the Michigan State Capitol that “promoted well-regulated militias,” GOP candidate Mike Detmer proclaimed that “this whole race nonsense” is “fake.”
Detroit News: Michigan U.S. House candidate references ‘this whole race nonsense’ as ‘fake’
“A Republican candidate in one of Michigan’s U.S. House battlegrounds downplayed national protests against racism in policing as ‘this whole race nonsense’ during a speech last week.
‘It is fake,’ Mike Detmer, a Republican from Howell, said before a crowd outside the Michigan Capitol, according to a video posted online. ‘It is fake,’ he repeated.
‘Here’s the reality: If you are someone of faith, you understand that all lives matter,’ Detmer continued. ‘It was decided by the blood of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.’
Detmer faced criticism in April for a Facebook post viewed as defending the neo-fascist group The Proud Boys. Detmer said in an interview at the time that the Proud Boys had been wrongly labeled as a racist hate group.
Detmer’s new comments were ‘ignorant’ and ‘not helpful,’ said Derrell Slaughter, an Ingham County commissioner who is Black and recently championed a resolution to declare racism a public health crisis.”
Detmer’s comments come two months after he “faced criticism” for voicing support for the Proud Boys, and Paul Junge refused to denounce Detmer’s support for this extreme, neo-fascist organization.
“Michiganders deserve to know whether Paul Junge believes racism is ‘nonsense’ and ‘fake.’ If not, he must immediately denounce Detmer’s offensive and racist comments,” said DCCC Spokesperson Courtney Rice.
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