Michigan GOP leader caught on hot mic doubling down after calling Capitol attack a ‘hoax’
The Senate Majority Leader in the Michigan state senate was caught in a hot mic moment doubling down on his assertion that the Capitol riot was "staged" and a "hoax" despite apologizing for his comments just a day earlier.
Speaking to the state's Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, Mike Shirkey said: "I frankly don’t take back any of the points I was trying to make."
Mr Shirkey was talking about comments he made in a secretly filmed YouTube video posted by a member of the Hillsdale County Republican Party. In the video, Mr Shirkey can be seen saying about the Capitol riot: "That wasn’t Trump people. That’s been a hoax from day one... It was all staged," The Detriot Free Press reported.
Mr Shirkey also said in the 72-minute long video that he had thought about challenging Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to a fistfight and that he "spanked" her in negotiations on legislation.
Mr Shirkey issued an apology Tuesday, saying: “I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve. I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them. I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.”
But his statements to Mr Gilchrist Wednesday suggest that he didn't stand behind his apology.
Mr Shirkey again questioned who started the Capitol riot.
"The assignment of cause, it was planned months, weeks and months in advance by somebody that... unfortunately is getting blamed for it."
He added: "Some of Trump’s people got caught up in the mob and did things that they shouldn’t have done. The assignment of cause was really what I was talking about."
Mr Shirkey also called the meeting with the Hillsdale County Republican Party a "hijacking".
"I don’t back off very easy," he said.
Mr Gilchrist issued a statement of his own Wednesday, blasting Mr Shirkey: “While (Shirkey) made a half-hearted attempt to address his inexcusable language and behaviour last night, and an even weaker attempt during a prayer in today’s Senate session, his comments toward me on the Senate floor this morning tell a different story. It is clear that his so-called apology was not heartfelt, nor did it come from a place of humility and understanding. Rather, it was an empty gesture made for political expediency, and one that the people of Michigan can see right through."
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