Speaker will not meet embattled state rep’s demands

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – The Speaker of the Michigan House is rejecting a request by an embattled lawmaker to have his staff, budget and committee reassignments restored.

Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), who was punished last week for promoting what Tate called “blatantly racist” posts on social media, delivered a letter to the Speaker on Wednesday seeking to have his privileges restored.

“The Speaker has no plans to meet Rep. Schriver’s demands,” Tate’s spokeswoman Amber McCann tells 6 News via text.

Michigan Speaker of the House Joe Tate (D-Detroit) and State Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), Courtesy photo Michigan House of Representatives.

Schriver pushed back on the Speaker’s decision in a private message on X to 6 News.

“Democrats are playing a dangerous game of depriving resources provided by law to all Members and our respective constituents. I’ll continue to fight for District 66, introduce legislation like my proposal to get a hospital in Oxford, and vote our values,” he wrote. “When Republican take the majority, do Democrats want us nixing their staff and office resources? This doesn’t look like democracy to me. I’m hopeful Speaker Tate will do the right thing and eventually stop playing partisan politics.”

Screenshot of State Rep. Josh Schiver (R-Oxford) X posts. (WLNS)

Screenshot of State Rep. Josh Schiver (R-Oxford) X posts. (WLNS)

Screenshot of State Rep. Josh Schiver (R-Oxford) X posts. (WLNS)

‘X’ post by Rep. Josh Schriver Feb. 9, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

‘X’ post by Rep. Josh Schriver on Feb. 9, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Josh Schriver, tweet on Feb. 9, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Josh Schriver, tweet on Feb. 9, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Josh Schriver, tweet on Feb. 8, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Josh Schriver, tweet on Feb. 9, 2024 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Schriver’s tweet, defending his initial repost, on Feb. 8 (X/Rep. Josh Schriver)

Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) X post. (Screenshot/WLNS)

The letter was first reported by the Detroit News late Wednesday night. 6 News is first to report the Speaker’s response and Schriver’s reaction to that decision.

In addition to requesting restoration of his office privileges and committee assignments, Schriver’s letter included other items McCann characterized as “demands.”

Among them: The Speaker refrain from referencing Schriver as a racist, acknowledge that Schriver as a Christian doesn’t believe in being racist, and that the House no longer consider and adopt budget items Schriver says are racist.

As an example of the alleged racism in the budget, Schriver identified, in a post on X, a section of the most recent budget that allocations money for minority-owned businesses.

A screen shot of Rep. Josh Schriver’s X account detailing what he alleges is an “anti-white” budget. His Colleague Rep. Steve Carra is currently sleeping in the hall outside Speaker Tate’s office to protest future budgets. (WLNS)

Schriver reposted an X item from another person two weeks ago that promoted the “Great Replacement” theory.

“The Great Replacement” is a theory that governments or some other group of people are working replace white people in traditionally white communities with communities of color — particularly immigrants.

Carolyn Normandin Anti-defamation League regional director in Michigan says the “Great Replacement” theory has been adopted and promoted by the white supremacy.

“The whole idea of the great replacement philosophy was adopted and promoted by the white supremacy movement,” said Normandin  “It fits into their conspiracy theory about the impending destruction of the white race.”

That post and subsequent ones were condemned by Tate, the Governor, the Lt. Governor and more. The Michigan House overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemned racism and other bigotry as well. A resolution Schriver opposed, along with four other lawmakers.

“I’m opposed to racists, race baiters and victim politics,” Schriver said during the debate on the resolution last week. “In the name of free speech, including speech I don’t agree with, I urge a ‘No’ vote on this resolution.”

Gov Gretchen Whitmer, in an interview with 6 News on Wednesday, said Schriver’s advocacy for the “Great Replacement” theory was “unpatriotic” and “dangerous.”

Schriver shot back on Thursday morning in an X post.

State Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) clapped back against comments from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reported by WLNS. (Screen Shot of X post, WLNS)

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, has been tracking and studying far-right and extremist groups for more than a couple of decades. That includes monitoring the narratives of neo-Nazis and white nationalists “that are sort of pulsing among those far-right extremist universes.”

“It’s a really, really dangerous theory because it has inspired many acts of mass terrorism — both in the U.S. and abroad,” she tells 6 News. She cited recent mass shooting events in the U.S. including the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pennsylvania and a 2019 mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas Walmart that left 23 dead and nearly two dozen wounded as examples of events inspired by the theory. “So, this is content, this idea is literally, directly tied to terrorism and as a result, no state representative, no elected official, nobody with an audience should be spreading.”

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