Maybe Speaker Joe Tate does wear a blue leotard under his suit…?
“I will not allow the Michigan House of Representatives to be a forum for the proliferation of racist, hateful and bigoted speech,” said Tate in a statement. “Representative Schriver has a history of promoting debunked theories and dangerous rhetoric that jeopardizes the safety of Michigan residents and contributes to a hostile and uncomfortable environment for others. The House of Representatives is the people’s house, and all Michiganders should look upon this body and take pride in how we conduct ourselves. It is also a workplace, and I have a responsibility to make sure the employees of the House feel safe and secure.”
The action follows Schriver’s posting last Tuesday on X of a graphic of the “Great Replacement” theory, which states that a conspiracy is targeting white Americans and Europeans to be “replaced” by non-white populations, often through immigration or interracial relationships.
It has become a prominent talking point among far-right white nationalists and has often been cited by the perpetrators of mass violence, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shootings that killed 11 Jewish worshipers, the 2019 mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that killed 23 people, almost all of them Hispanic, and the 2022 mass shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., which targeted Black patrons and killed 10 people.
Relax, conspiracy-minded cross-burners, it's effectively only a slap on the wrist. It's not like Schriver was ousted from office. He continues to represent his constituency and still can vote in the Michigan House.
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