Michigan Republican resigns from GOP post citing ‘delusional lies’

Lansing — Tony Daunt, a longtime Michigan Republican insider, resigned Tuesday evening from the GOP’s state committee, saying celebration leaders had made the approaching election a check of “who’s most cravenly loyal” to former President Donald Trump.

Daunt, who’s one in every of two Republican members of the Board of State Canvassers, made the remark in an e-mail addressed to Judy Rapanos, chairwoman of the 4th Congressional District Republican Committee. The message was obtained by The Detroit Information.

For 5 years, Daunt has been one in every of about 100 members of the Republican Social gathering’s state committee, a panel that helps information the celebration’s selections. However that ended Tuesday together with his instant resignation, three days after a contentious GOP conference in Grand Rapids.

As an alternative of specializing in Democrats’ “myriad failures,” Daunt wrote that “feckless, cowardly celebration ‘leaders’ have made the election right here in Michigan a check of who’s probably the most cravenly loyal to Donald Trump and re-litigating the outcomes of the 2020 cycle.”

Daunt described Trump as a “deranged narcissist.”

The previous president has maintained unproven claims that fraud price him Michigan’s 2020 election, assertions which have divided the state’s Republicans. Trump misplaced the 2020 race to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,000 votes or 3 share factors.

“Extremely, reasonably than distancing themselves from this undisciplined loser, far too many Republican ‘leaders’ have determined that encouraging his delusional lies — and, even worse — cynically appeasing him regardless of understanding they’re lies, is the best path to making sure their continued maintain on energy, basic election penalties be damned,” Daunt wrote in his e-mail.

“Relatively than assembling the braveness to do the correct factor, on the proper time, and information the activist base in direction of the reality, they’ve repeatedly backed down and dissembled, hoping that only one extra act of cowardice might be what does the trick.”

Daunt’s resignation was one other signal of rising divisions inside the Michigan Republican Social gathering forward of the 2022 election, wherein the state will elect a governor and fill each seat within the state Legislature.

Daunt beforehand served as government director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, the director of constituent relations for former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and logistics director for the Michigan Republican Social gathering.

His letter got here three days after the Michigan Republican Social gathering endorsement conference, the place delegates chosen Kristina Karamo and Matt DePerno, two Trump-backed candidates, to run for secretary of state and lawyer basic.

Karamo and DePerno rose to prominence questioning the 2020 election and have targeted their campaigns on points associated to it.

Meshawn Maddock, the celebration’s co-chairwoman, had endorsed Karamo and DePerno.

cmauger@detroitnews.com