Republican nominee for competitive Michigan state House district thanked Jan. 6 protesters

Dave Morgan, the Republican nominee for Michigan’s 44th state House District, once praised thousands of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who descended on Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop certification of the 2020 election.

Morgan is running against Democratic state Rep. Jim Haadsma, the incumbent in the newly redrawn district. The two ran against each other for the House seat in 2020 and 2018 as well.

Morgan made the comment on Facebook two days after the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that left nine people dead and 140 law enforcement officers injured.

In the Facebook post, Morgan suggested that the violent insurrectionists weren’t Trump supporters:

I have been to many President Trump Rallies, events, and never have I seen any violence or really anyone out of control other than a few protesters who came in with banners against the President and even that was not bad. One thing I have never seen at any political event, President Trump’s or anyone else are people who brought Tear Gas Mask, Pipe Bombs, or other weapons. The more information that comes out, the more I say we all better take a deep breath and wait until the investigations are done because I think I can say without any hesitation I very much doubt that the people who left pipe bombs at both the Democratic and Republican Party National Headquarters were not people in Washington to support the President or President Elect Biden.

 

Whoever and whatever groups played a part in organizing these attacks need to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. And for the 100,000 plus who peacefully attended the events thank you for your voice but also for the way it was heard. And THANK YOU to all of the law enforcement in Washington DC who stood for us all and in my eyes did a fantastic job. It is easy after the fact to say this and that should have been done but when you are in the middle of battle you do what you can. Each man and woman who were there in law enforcement are owed our gratitude.

In another Facebook post, Morgan urged people to watch a video made by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, the right-wing conspiracy theorist who spread lies about the 2020 election and has waged a two-year-long crusade to overturn Trump’s loss.

The video has since been removed, but Morgan suggested that it provided evidence of fraud.

“If you are a Republican this may give you the information you have been looking for if you are a Democrat maybe you will understand, even if you disagree, why so many people do not trust the election results. … In my race I went from 3300 ahead to 1000 down,” Morgan wrote, referencing his 2020 loss to Haadsma. “All I am saying is watch this video and you decide if you think something must have gone wrong.”

Morgan continued: “I give Mike Lindell A LOT of credit. If you believe him or not he put in a lot of effort to put this information together. I for one would very much support an independent investigation into our voting process and the potential security of our systems.”

Morgan lost to Haadsma in 2020 by roughly 2 points and in 2018 by almost 4 points.

Democrats have a shot at winning control of the state House for the first time since 2010. Republicans currently have a slim 57-53 majority in the lower chamber.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.