Cancel culture is coming for conservatives far and wide, and the controversy in Michigan is no different. Left-wing and anti-GOP activists demanded that a regent should resign over his ties to the Republican Party and for his support of President Donald Trump.
Ron Weiser, a recently-elected member of the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, came under fire because he is a co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party with pro-Trump views, who has made claims about 2020 election voter fraud and the recent mob violence at the U.S. Capitol.
A student-led petition circulated among University of Michigan students and faculty members online on the petition website Change.org. It claimed that Weiser “is complicit in Wednesday’s historic and horrifying events,” referring to the mob violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The petition blasted Weiser and claimed that he continued to “defend their instigators.” It added, “We demand that he either resign or be recalled by the Board of Regents, and we expect President Schlissel to condemn this threat to all students of color on campus.”
The petition highlighted Weiser’s other pursuits as the “incoming co-chair of the Michigan GOP and former RNC fundraising coordinator for President Trump.” It condemned Weiser’s statement on the mob violence, even though Weiser himself had already denounced the violence. Weiser tweeted his denunciation, which read, “I strongly condemn those people who turned into a mob and breached the capitol after what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Those who broke the law should be held accountable. My heart goes out to the families of those who were unnecessarily harmed.”
Contrary to the petition’s claims, Weiser’s statement condemned the mob violence and contradicted the petition’s main claim.
However, that statement did not satisfy the left-wing cancel culture mob behind the petition. The petition organizers took offense that one of Weiser’s Twitter profile photos displays “an image of himself with President Trump.”
Additionally, the organizers asserted that Weiser was “complicit” and had “encouraged” the “lies which led to [the] attempted coup.” Weiser’s state GOP co-chair, Meshawn Maddock, allegedly made incendiary remarks about voter fraud at a Trump rally and the petition demanded that he condemn her remarks. In short, the petition said, “Ron Weiser must go.”
The petition organizers admitted that it is up to Weiser to decide whether to resign or not. One organizer told Inside Higher Ed, “Our primary goal ideally would be for Weiser to admit that what he did was unacceptable and resign himself.”
Ultimately, the petition read as if it were a Democratic Party fundraising e-mail or party talking points. Although the mob violence at the U.S. Capitol was an affront to democracy, it was disingenuous for petition organizers to lay all the blame on Weiser.
