Republican state Rep. Gary Eisen was cryptic in discussing a last-minute move he says the Michigan GOP is planning.
A Michigan Republican state House member suggested that there could be violence on Monday when the state GOP carried out what he described as a "Hail Mary" attempt to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win in the state in the 2020 presidential election.
The GOP lawmaker, Gary Eisen, made the comments in a radio interview during which he was cryptic about what Republican lawmakers were planning, describing it as a "historic event" that he said "will be all over the news later on."
When asked by the host whether he could ensure there wouldn't be violence around this event, Eisen replied, "No. I don't know. Because what we're doing today is uncharted."
Eisen's comments came just ahead of the planned meeting of Electoral College electors in the state to vote to affirm Biden's win. Biden won Michigan by 154,188 votes, or 3%, a vote that was not remotely close. Michigan closed state office buildings on Monday in reaction to what officials called "credible threats."
Republicans such as Eisen are refusing to concede Donald Trump's loss of the election, with top aide Stephen Miller even claiming there is an "alternate" Electoral College that will vote to elect Trump.
There has already been violence in parts of the country as the GOP continues its effort to steal the election for Trump.
A pro-Trump protest in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, attended by members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys that Trump told to "stand back and stand by" in September, turned violent, with four people stabbed, the Washington Post reported.
In the wake of his comments, Eisen was reprimanded by the Republican state House speaker, who removed him from his committees.
But the removal only lasts until the end of the week, when the state legislative term ends. It's possible that Eisen will get his committee spots back in the new term.
It's not the first time Eisen has used violent rhetoric.
In April, when Michigan Republicans voted against extending Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's emergency powers to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Eisen posted on Facebook: "Now you have to understand this could be the last bullet we have in our 'GUN', there may be no more ammo to reload with, we need to be smart, stay on target and NOT waste the shot.!!!"
Eisen also posted an image of a large rifle ahead of the state legislature's vote on extending Whitmer's emergency powers.
Whitmer was the target of a violent kidnapping plot by people associated with so-called militias.
In March, in response to background checks on firearm purchases, Eisen posted an image of a gun to Facebook with the caption, "Just a heads up on a new regulation from the ATF on the NICS background check.. March 3rd the Michigan CPL can NO longer be used as a NICS background check document when buying from a dealer... ..they will have to call in just like before when you made the purchase..... So one of my employees is super mad at the GOV. for the state of emergency , you can't have a gathering of more than 250 people. So they had to shut down the Birch Run GUN show for this weekend.......... oh boy,,, not happy..."
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
