A social media post is landing a self-proclaimed candidate for state Senate in hot water with some.
His derogatory post was aimed at the judge who oversaw the Dr. Larry Nassar case involving sexual abuse of young girls.
Michael Saari is answering our questions about his Facebook post, and defending against his critics.
As Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced former USA Gymnastics and MSU Dr. Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting countless victims, the eyes of the nation were watching.
Judge Aquilina also made it clear Nassar's apology was an insult.
Days later a social media post from State Senate Candidate Mike Saari from Commerce Township has sparked an ugly exchange on Facebook.
The post reads, "Judge was wrong for her personal vocal opinions on record that should be a crime against jurisprudence itself. Lastly what do you think this feminazi judge would say if her husband asked for
What we've blanked was a slang reference to a sex act.
We asked Saari about it. He wouldn't say sorry, instead calling out the judge for a lack of judicial appropriateness, even saying she took things too far, putting the victims in a potentially worse spot.
"Everything was about her. She could have opened the door for an appeal for Nasser. The reason I made that post was I was angered," he says.
After some punishing posts aimed at Saari that followed, he offers this admission.
"If I was to do it all over again, I probably would not have used such derogatory terminology. Yes. Probably not," he says.
Saari admits he is not a lawyer, just a business owner who wants to serve his community.
We'll see what happens when he runs for office.
