Republican state Representative Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) was stripped of his office staff and committee assignments over his sharing of a racist social media post under an order issued Monday.
House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) said the action was in response to Schriver’s history of promoting “debunked theories and dangerous rhetoric.”
“I will not allow the Michigan House of Representatives to be a forum for the proliferation of racist, hateful and bigoted speech,” Tate said in a statement announcing the disciplinary action.
“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,” he said. “It is also a workplace, and I have a responsibility to make sure the employees of the House feel safe and secure.”
The action means Schriver will not be allowed use of his district’s office in the House office building. It will instead be managed by the House clerk and his staff will be re-assigned. The lawmaker was also removed from the House Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Committee.
There was no word on how long the punishment might last.
Schriver is still allowed to vote on the floor during House sessions and introduce and co-sponsor legislation.
The sanctions are in response to a post on X, formerly Twitter, where Schriver appeared to endorse the “great replacement” theory. It’s a racist trope that says elites are conspiring to displace white people with non-white people. It’s also associated with antisemitism and has been linked with instances of fatal shootings and other racist violence.
There were no replies to messages sent to Schriver or to House Republicans seeking comment. But in social media posts made Friday, according to the Gongwer News Service, Schriver said Democrats “are in fact and policy the real racists” and called the attention to his posts “attempts by the media to start a race war.”
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