INDems Chairman Mike Schmuhl: “When the Republican Party in our state and other leaders don’t come forward and denounce [the Nazi flag], it allows [the rhetoric] to continue. It allows it to be acceptable.”
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today continued its call for INGOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer and elected Republicans to denounce the Oath Keepers (the domestic terrorist group connected to the January 6 Insurrection) and the uptick in white supremacist rhetoric across Indiana. In just one week, State Senator Scott Baldwin was found to be an “annual” member of the Oath Keepers last week, and a Republican voter was found to wave the Nazi flag outside Macy, Indiana.
Kyle Hupfer and the Indiana Republican Party refuse to address both news stories. Hupfer refuses to denounce this dangerous rhetoric. However, the INGOP’s strategy should have been expected. Jim Baird, Jim Banks, Greg Pence, and Jackie Walorski all voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, which contributed to the January 6 Insurrection against the United States. Further, every Indiana Republican in the state’s Congressional delegation – including U.S. Senator Todd Young – voted “NO” to form a nonpartisan commission to address the domestic terrorist attack executed by extremist groups like the Oath Keepers.
It’s becoming clear Chairman Hupfer and the Indiana Republican Party value their extreme partisanship over standing up for Hoosier values and American democracy. The INGOP seems to be willing to let domestic terrorists and the Nazi flag mingle in their party indefinitely.
Key points:
Howey Politics Indiana: “Indiana Democratic Chairman Mike Schmuhl is calling on Indiana Republicans and leaders to denounce the flag. ‘With the election of Donald Trump, he sort of allowed this sort of behavior to run rampant. You connect the dots throughout his political career, from the time he decided to run for president until now, Charlottesville… clearing a square of protesters to hold up a Bible, and the big one – Jan. 6 – the one that sort of pierced the heart of our democracy, trying to overturn the election results. You can kind of connect the dots between the time he announced for the presidency until now. He’s basically given agency, given permission for folks who normally have been on the fringe or outcasts to occur. It’s dangerous and it poisons our democracy.’
Schmuhl adds, ‘You look at previous Republican presidents and nominees – both Bushes, John McCain, Mitt Romney – they’ve all in one form or another denounced Donald Trump and the lines he has crossed. What I see here in Indiana now, over the past week or two, is you have a state senator who has been found to be a member of the Oath Keepers, which was part of Jan. 6, and you have a farmer out there in Macy flying a Nazi flag. When the Republican Party in our state and other leaders don’t come forward and denounce that, it allows it to continue. It allows it to be acceptable. Being a member of Oath Keepers, who attacked democracy, who attacked our Capitol Building on Jan. 6, to not be able to denounce that is unacceptable. To see the Nazi flag fly above farm land in Indiana is just unacceptable.’
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