Kansas Republicans decried a fundraiser Friday night at which participants paid to kick and beat an effigy of President Joe Biden, separating themselves from extremists who have taken control of the party.
The Biden-bashing came as part of a Kansas GOP rally in Johnson County, which also featured rocker Ted Nugent and disgraced former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.
A video posted by “MolonLabeTruth” to the far-right social networking platform Rumble shows “highlights” from the event, including karate chops to blocks that read “Let’s Go, Brandon,” which is code for a nasty insult to Biden.
The video shows many attendees at the event attempting a roundhouse kick on a mannequin bust wearing a Biden mask and a “Let’s Go, Brandon” T-shirt. Another woman is seen hitting the president’s face with a foam bat.
MolonLabeTruth put a video on Rumble including “highlights” from the event.
Kansas GOP chairman Mike Brown, an election denier who narrowly won the leadership position a year ago, promoted the fundraiser event for weeks in official GOP emails, making no mention of the Biden effigy. General admission tickets were priced at $100, with superior seats costing $300.
In a post on his personal Facebook page on Saturday, former GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman blasted the Biden attack. Other Republicans joined him in responding to the tweet.
Kuckelman stated that participants at the event were encouraged to beat the Biden effigy in exchange for a donation. He demanded the resignations of Brown and Johnson County Republican Party chairperson Maria Holiday.
“This action is both disgusting and wrong. Brown and Holiday must resign,” Kuckelman stated. “Republicans, particularly elected Republicans, must call for the resignations of Brown and Holiday. Silence constitutes complicity in this scenario.”
Kuckelman stated that Republicans “rightfully demanded” that Kathy Griffin’s appearance be canceled when a photo surfaced of her clutching a bloody, decapitated imitation of then-President Donald Trump’s head. Republicans “must speak equally as loudly” about the attacks on Biden’s effigy, Kuckelman added.
“I don’t agree with President Biden’s policies, but he is a fellow human being,” he added. “No one should condone or defend this horrific and shameful conduct.”
John Altevogt, a conservative social media analyst, believes the event demonstrates how far the party’s leadership has deviated from mainstream politics. He referred to Brown’s fans as QAnon and white supremacists with “no place in legitimate Republican political discourse.”
“What should become brazenly obvious from this post is the wide range of Republicans who are disgusted by this behavior,” Altevogt commented in a response to Kuckelman’s post. “There are both Trump supporters and Principles First supporters here. And yet, here we are, working together to rid the party of this unsightly scourge.”
Former state Senator Michael O’Donnell described the occurrence as “sad.”
Others referred to it as “disturbing,” “disgusting,” “shocking,” “enraging,” and “despicable.” Several others stated that they were lifelong Republicans who were considering abandoning the party.
Julie Roller Weeks, vice chairperson of the Dickinson County Republicans, commented, “We fight with our votes, not fists and bats. This is disgraceful.”
Brandon Kenig, a former chairman of the Kansas Young Republicans and campaign volunteer, stated that the Republican Party “that supported democracy and fought autocracy has faded into history, and the only core tenant of the party that remains is full, undying loyalty to one man,” referring to the party’s presumed presidential candidate.
“Sadly, this isn’t surprising at all,” Kenig wrote. “It’s the natural progression of a cult-like mentality. When the majority of the party base views the opposition as intrinsically bad and constantly dehumanizes them over policy differences, it’s just a matter of time until simulated political violence becomes actual political violence.
Because party leaders lack guts, most base voters believe in deep-seated lies such as 2020 election denial, vaccine conspiracy theories, QAnon crap about politicians being pedos, the deep state, and worse. Why wouldn’t those absurd ideas merit a response like this?”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Democrat from Lenexa, Johnson County, urged Republican government officials to denounce the beating of Biden’s effigy.
“Political violence of any kind is vile and wrong, and we cannot afford to brush it under the rug when others encourage it,” Sykes said in a statement. “The focus now must be on Republican leadership in the Kansas Senate and House. If my colleagues in the Legislature agree that this conduct is disgusting and harmful, they cannot ignore it. Their silence constitutes agreement.”