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Lansing, MI - An unnamed communications staffer for the Michigan GOP has been placed on paid temporary leave, a spokesman for the Michigan Republicans confirmed via Facebook on Monday. Citing a well-circulated video across several social media platforms, MIGOP’s Ingham county spokesman Nathan Higgersson detailed the terms of the staffer’s punishment while calming fierce backlash from the party’s online base: “After the appropriate figures in our party were made aware of this staffer’s behavior, action came swiftly and effectively, something that we at the MIGOP take pride in. I want to make it especially clear today that the words of this staffer do not reflect the views of the MIGOP, and we condemn them in the strongest terms possible. The Michigan Republican Party is and will always be a safe place for hate speech, racism, religious fundamentalism, and conspiracy theories.” This comes in response to a viral video in which a woman was recorded at an MIGOP fundraiser in downtown Lansing visibly and vocally distraught during a panel discussion about an alleged plan to introduce a so-called “bathroom bill” in Michigan. In the video, the woman can be heard shouting at a panel guest. “Are you out of your [expletive] mind? Our children shouldn’t be forced to [unintelligible] approved just to go take a [expletive] during school. … You mean like a passport, except with a photo of their genitals, right? Queer people are human beings—” The video abruptly ends after the woman’s voice is drowned out by gasps and shouting from the audience following her comment about the humanness of queer individuals. When asked by the Chronicle for comment, the state MIGOP office provided this brief statement: “The Michigan Republican Party fully supports our LGB (Let’s Go Brandon) community. The proposed plan in the video, although genuine, is not in fact a proposal to mandate a ‘passport for your kid’s underage dick or pussy,’ as has been alleged online. It’s more like a driver’s license. MIGOP will continue working hard for the people of Michigan (not Detroit) to deliver real, culture war W’s for our taxpayers (white people)."
Gibby Valentino, Kalkaska Chronicle
