Michigan lawmakers are blasting a post reposted on X by Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver touting a white supremacist theory called "The Great Replacement."
Schriver, a Republican from Oxford, reposted the post on Tuesday afternoon showing a map that had Black figures in most of the world and white figures in the northern parts of the world with the words "the great replacement."
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the theory dates back to the early 20th century when a French writer said native white Europeans are being replaced by non-white immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. It's grown in recent years and along with being used by white supremacists, it's also used in antisemitism.
Speaker of the House Joe Tate issued a statement on Thursday calling the post "blatantly racist" and saying it doesn't align with the values of the Michigan House of Representatives.
"It is difficult for me to understand why he would hold these beliefs as a representative of a diverse group of Michigan residents," Tate said in the statement. “Furthermore, the fact that Representative Shriver would espouse a deplorable and false theory and contend it is worthy of consideration puts his ignorance on full display. But ignorance is no excuse for proliferating obvious hate."
Schriver took to social media on Thursday as outrage continued to grow over the tweet, talking about his meeting with Tate early last year.
"No racism from him (hopefully), Never racism from me (certainly)," he tweeted.
Schriver asked what he tweeted that was false.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist released statements Friday on the tweet.
"The abhorrent rhetoric pushed by a member of the Michigan House of Representatives goes against our state and national values. We have a moral obligation to speak out against hatred. It is a failure of leadership for this kind of action to take place unchecked by the leaders of Rep. Schriver’s caucus, and the longer there is no action taken, the more responsibility leadership bears," Whitmer said in a statement.
"Racism is dark, dangerous, and disgraceful. Rep. Schriver's pedaling of the racist 'replacement theory' is a deplorable demonstration of his fear of a dynamic and diverse Michigan future where all of our people in every community can succeed," Gilchrist added.
Other Democrats took to social media to react. Rep. Jason Hoskins, a Democrat from Southfield, wrote "Michigan House Republican celebrates Black History Month by promoting racist and dangerous conspiracies that there are too many people of color."
Rep. Kelly Breen, a Democrat from Novi, wrote, "This blatantly racist & dangerous rhetoric has no place in our diverse society, let alone the Michigan Legislature. It saddens & infuriates me that a colleague shared this. For someone who claims to love God - Rep. Shriver is blind to the fact this would make Him weep."
