FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
July 14, 2021
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
MIGOP Executive Director Resigns Amid Disinformation Wildfire
Year-long election misinformation campaign is catching up with Michigan Republicans
MICHIGAN – On Wednesday, Jason Roe, executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, resigned under pressure from the grassroots for not being loyal to former President Donald Trump and The Big Lie. He joins a parade of staff departures which have the left the GOP in turmoil on the watch of Chairman Ron Weiser and Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock.
Roe has been “under constant assault from the grassroots,” reports Tim Alberta of The Atlantic, after a comment he made last November blaming Trump for losing the 2020 election. In April, party activists mounted a campaign to censure and remove Roe because of his comments.
In a recent report, Progress Michigan highlighted the rift within the party between the grassroots who continue to believe The Big Lie and party leaders who want to move on from the 2020 election.
“Michigan Republican lawmakers and officials have no one to blame but themselves for the current splintering of their party,” said Sam Inglot, deputy director of Progress Michigan. “They’ve been giving oxygen to The Big Lie since November, holding bogus hearings with conspiracy theorists and repeating baseless claims. Now, their grassroots base is on fire with disinformation and lies and ready to burn the party down.”
After months spent holding bogus hearings and investigating baseless claims of election fraud, the GOP-led Senate Oversight Committee released a report last week stating reality: the 2020 presidential election was fair and accurate. Their extremist base is having none of it. Activists have confronted Sen. Lana Theis, one of the report’s co-sponsors, and physically chased down Sen. Mike Shirkey to demand answers about it.
“It’s clear that after months of refusing to accept reality and allowing disinformation to spread like wildfire, the Michigan Republican Party is having a hard time breathing in the smoke,” Inglot continued.
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