Two female Michigan GOP members scuffle in bar amid state party feud

The exchange was reportedly the result of an ongoing rivalry within the state party between supporters of new state GOP chairwoman Kristina Karamo and Matthew DePerno — a lawyer who was running against Karamo to run the party. DePerno told Bridge Michigan, “There are major internal disputes within the party right now and Karamo has done nothing to bring the party together. And after winning on a podium in front of the chair, how could she divide the game? Her platform was to burn it down to eliminate the people who disagree with her.” Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11994743/Moment-two-female-Michigan-GOP-committee-members-BRAWL-bar.html?ito=msngallery

The reason for Friday night’s intense exchange was apparently an allegation that Kalamazoo County GOP officials are working to “cleanse” Karamo loyalists from positions of power. Pehlis (pictured), who is part of a Macomb County GOP leadership team that supported Karamo, accused Sackett of removing the Karamo-supporting precinct from their positions last week. The alleged purge followed the recent censure and removal of three Karamo loyalists from the Kalamazoo GOP executive committee. Two of those members sued Sackett and the provincial party after she accused them of orchestrating a “coup” ahead of the February convention at which Karamo defeated DePerno. Those two members claim that Sackett and DePerno try to remove anyone who disagrees with them. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11994743/Moment-two-female-Michigan-GOP-committee-members-BRAWL-bar.html?ito=msngallery

DePerno (pictured) — who, like Karamo, is a 2020 election denier — claimed that the February leadership election was fraudulent, and more recently has said that Karamo had her campaign staff “counting ballots in the pits.” In a police report, DePerno claimed the members are part of a group of “anarchist-minded delegates” in the Kalamazoo Republican Party, whose goal is not to raise money and win elections, but to push a “radical agenda” through a ‘Christian cult mentality’ that will ‘cleanse’ the party.’ Ken Beyer, the new chairman of the Michigan GOP’s 4th Congressional District Committee, said DePerno is a “sore loser trying to keep us from succeeding and moving forward.” He accused DePerno and his faction of trying to “sabotage” Karamo, suggesting that he doesn’t want the Michigan GOP to want the Republican National Committee to “step in and take over the (state) party and put Matt in ( Karamo’s) position. .’ Karamo and DePerno have both denied the results of the 2020 election and previously shared the 2022 vote as the Michigan GOP nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, respectively. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11994743/Moment-two-female-Michigan-GOP-committee-members-BRAWL-bar.html?ito=msngallery

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