The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a routine story about Tim Michels, the Republican nominee for governor, pointing out that his personal foundation donated $1.6 million to various organizations including charities, churches, anti-abortion groups and anti-LGBTQ. Among Michels' beneficiaries are these:
The Michels foundation gave a total of $175,000 in 2020 to Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro Life Wisconsin Education Task Force and Avail NYC, a New York City crisis pregnancy center.
Pro Life Wisconsin's agenda calls for completely outlawing abortion and would ban most common forms of contraception and birth control and prohibit in vitro fertilization. That goes beyond the 1849 abortion ban.
Other beneficiaries include Marco Rubio's rabidly anti-LGBTQ pastor and the Veritas Society which uses technology to stalk women who go to abortion clinics.
Michels immediately started playing the victim card, claiming that Governor Tony Evers was using the "leftist media" to attack Michels' faith and Christianity. In reality, Michels is running scared because he knows that this brand of Christo-fascism isn't playing very well in politics, so he is comparing donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to hate organizations to putting $10 in a church's poor box.
Within 24 hours, just before President Biden called out such irresponsible rhetoric, Michels upped the ante on stupidity and boorishness by calling for people to hit the streets armed with "torches and pitchforks:"
Speaking on conservative talker Vicki McKenna's show on Thursday afternoon, the Brownsville construction executive called the story "crazy" and "absurd" in his fiery remarks.
"I believe people should just be ready to get out into the streets with pitchforks and torches with how low the liberal media has become," Michels said. "People need to decide, ‘Am I going to put up with this? Am I going to tolerate this — taking somebody that gives money to churches or cancer research and use that as a hit piece in the media?’ I’m appalled. It’s disgusting.”
Pitchfork and torches — really?
Over a routine news story in the middle of a heated election?
You can hear the low quality recording for yourself here.
Am I the only one getting the mental image from North Carolina when the MAGAts stormed the area with khaki pants, white polo shirts and tiki torches?
Michels was narrowly trailing Evers in the polls about a month ago. I have a feeling he just helped Evers expand that gap.
And a side note for Michels: Fascism, even Christo-Fascism, isn't a faith or a religion. It's just a cynical way of using religion to justify your own fascism.
