Michigan board censures GOP regent for calling state’s female Democratic leaders

The University of Michigan’s governing board censured regent and Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser Friday after he reportedly referred to several high-ranking elected officials as “witches.” 

Weiser has come under fire following comments he made during a recent Republican party meeting in which he referred to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel as “three witches” that needed to be defeated in the upcoming 2022 election. 

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“Our job now is to soften up those three witches and make sure that when we have good candidates to run against them, that they are ready for the burning at the stake. And maybe, the press heard that, too,” Weiser said, according to The Detroit News. 

He also reportedly said the only way to oust Republican Reps. Fred Upton and Peter Meijer from their seats is by vote or “assassination.” Both Upton and Meijer voted to impeach former President Trump earlier this year. 

On Friday, the board voted in favor of censuring Weiser and he apologized, but he also defied calls for his resignation. 

“I pledge to be part of a respectful dialogue going forward and challenge my colleagues and others to do the same. I will not be canceled,” Weiser said during a virtual meeting. 

Weiser can’t be removed from the board by fellow regents as he was elected to an eight-year term that is up in 2024. Regents of the university also voted to remove Weiser from several committees. 

AP reports Weiser and his wife are among the school’s top 10 individual donors after having donated more than $120 million.

Regent Jordan Acker during Friday’s meeting emphasized that the state’s governor was recently the target of a kidnapping plot by anti government extremists and said Weiser was fanning “the flames of hate and division.”

“Accountability is not cancellation, and the reason we are here today is because [Weiser] refuses to be accountable for his actions,” Acker said. 

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