Weekly Roundup: While Michigan Dems Continue to Ramp Up for November Election, MIGOP’s Racism Runs Rampant

With the fate of mifepristone at stake and Rep. Maddock spreading racist lies, Michigan Dems and the Biden campaign open offices across the state to combat Republican extremism

LANSING - This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case seeking to ban the abortion pill, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. These arguments highlighted how blatantly Republicans are pushing their extremist, unpopular, anti-abortion agenda and the threat Trump and his MAGA allies pose to our freedoms here in Michigan.

Thankfully, Democrats are continuing to expand their efforts here in Michigan to fight against Trump's MAGA agenda which includes implementing a national abortion ban if elected. Seven One Campaign offices have been opened across the state so far (30 expected by April 15), with the Grand Rapids office opening this past weekend and the Brighton office opening earlier today.

But don't worry, the MIGOP's bigotry was not only on full display this week but reached a new low, when state MAGA state Rep. Matt Maddock, in a blatantly racist tweet, sounded the false and incendiary alarm on "illegal invaders" arriving at the Detroit airport…invaders who were, in fact, the NCAA men's basketball teams touching down in our great state for March Madness. Even newly minted MIGOP Chair Pete Hoekstra reposted Maddock's hate. This party is truly rotten to the core.

The differences between the MIGOP and Michigan Dems were stark this week, with one party uplifting historic Democratic investments and the other spreading racist misinformation and fearmongering.

Check out the highlights from the past week below:

Last Saturday, Michigan Democratic leaders Congresswoman Hillary Scholten, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, and Mayor Mike Duggan opened the first One Campaign office on the west side of the state in Grand Rapids. They uplifted the stakes of the upcoming election and how Grand Rapids will be crucial in sending President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris back to the White House:

WOOD-TV: Democrats Opening New Campaign Office in GR

Then, on Tuesday, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes slammed the harmful, extremist, anti-abortion attacks on mifepristone happening in the Supreme Court this week in the case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. This attack on reproductive freedom ignores the overwhelming support for abortion access and the thousands of lives this would put at risk. With the conclusion of oral arguments on Tuesday, Chair Barnes said:

"We cannot ignore the fact that this case will have a sweeping impact across the country, including here in Michigan. The overarching goal of the Trump allies and anti-abortion extremists bringing this case has always been to ban all forms of abortion care. There's no sugarcoating it, a ban on mifepristone is the next step in chipping away at Michiganders' health care, and this politically motivated case could strip women of their fundamental freedoms.

"This court case is a direct threat to the reproductive freedoms Michigan Democrats worked to safeguard after Michiganders made their support for abortion access loud and clear, and we can't lose sight of the national abortion ban Trump will enact if elected. Republicans are clearly desperate as Trump and his MAGA cronies relentlessly pursue an extreme, anti-abortion agenda at every turn. Don't be fooled, we must elect Joe Biden this November so that we can defend abortion rights for Michiganders and ensure that coming generations have more freedoms, not fewer."

By Thursday, the MIGOP once again made headlines across the country for all the wrong reasons as MAGA state Rep. Matt Maddock claimed that there were buses of "illegal invaders" arriving at the Detroit airport - buses that were actually NCAA men's basketball teams coming to Michigan to play in March Madness. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the MIGOP concocts some blatantly false story to try to fearmonger and push their radical agenda. And don't be fooled, it's not just the so-called fringe members - everyone from Pete Hoekstra to Matt Hall is clearly susceptible to these extreme views as they continue to carry water for Trump's MAGA agenda here in Michigan. Thankfully, Michigan Dems were around to hold them accountable for their bigotry:

CNN: The Source With Kaitlan Collins

Rolling Stone: GOP Lawmaker Thinks He Exposed Busload of 'Illegals' … It Was the Gonzaga Basketball Team

• Michigan state Rep. Matt Maddock apparently had issues more pressing than college sports in mind when he posted an alarming tweet on Wednesday night.
• Maddock's pointed question, which has apparently been viewed 4 million times on X (formerly Twitter), is of a piece with far-right conspiracy theories about how the Biden administration is secretly flying thousands of migrants into the country. These unfounded claims have fueled belief in the so-called "Great Replacement" theory, which holds that the population of white Americans is being overwhelmed by nonwhite demographics with the help of Democrats and other nefarious actors. That racist ideology has inspired mass shootings and found proponents in the likes of Elon Musk and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
• As yet, Maddock appears to have taken no notice of the thousands of replies mocking him for the false identification of celebrated American college athletes as "invaders" from across the border, and at this point, it doesn't look like he'll be backing down.

Detroit News: GOP lawmaker slams 'illegal invaders' at Detroit airport. It was the Sweet 16 teams

• A Michigan Republican state lawmaker is taking heat after alleging "illegal invaders" were loaded Wednesday evening from airplanes at Detroit Metro airport onto buses that had pulled on the tarmac.
• The Michigan Democratic Party also condemned the language used by Maddock, asking sarcastically if it was part of former President Donald Trump's reported efforts to engage Black people in Michigan.
• "These racist social media posts are more disgusting examples of how bigotry has rotted the Michigan Republican Party from top to bottom - they can't look at a basketball team without going into a conspiracy-fueled frenzy," said Lavora Barnes, chairwoman for the Michigan Democratic Party.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer rounded out the week at the Brighton One Campaign office opening earlier today, where she energized volunteers and supporters to bring more people into the campaign and highlight the historic investments in Michigan from the Biden-Harris campaign. She highlighted how the Biden campaign and Michigan Dems are putting in the work to earn every vote and show up for every community:

It was a chaotic, busy week with insanity from the right and One Campaign offices popping up across the state, but we expect nothing less than extremism from the MIGOP and hard work from Michigan Dems and the Biden Campaign. Til next week.

Signing off,

Michigan Dems

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