I guess Perry Johnson forgot that you’re not supposed to say the quiet part out loud.
Johnson, the millionaire businessman who’s squandered tens of millions of dollars running for offices he’s not qualified to hold, is running for governor again this year. (This time, he actually made the ballot ‒ in 2022, Johnson, whose candidacy is premised on his business acumen, was disqualified when paid petition circulators turned in fraudulent signatures.)
In credible polling, Johnson has consistently trailed U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, considered the Republican frontrunner. But unlike Republican rivals Tom Leonard, Aric Nesbitt and Mike Cox, who saw which way the wind was blowing and left the race, Johnson still seems convinced he can win.
His campaigns are both costly and quixotic; Johnson, who has spent more than $23 million this cycle, has proposed blowing a $13 billion hole in the state budget, courtesy of math provided by ChatGPT; put out some shockingly inept commercials; and sidled right up to some really racist rhetoric.
Until last week, when Johnson eagerly accepted the endorsement of Dave Agema, a former Michigan state rep and former member of the Republican National Committee who exited in 2016 when his racism and xenophobia proved too much even for his GOP comrades.
Johnson had openly courted President Donald Trump’s endorsement, which on June 22 was bestowed upon James, whom Johnson called the “DEI candidate” in a recent debate. James is Black. In a media scrum after, Johnson claimed he simply meant that James’ family business had won “DEI awards,” but when questioned by a reporter, couldn’t provide details. But Johnson has mostly toyed with racist rhetoric, shrouded in befuddlement, edging right up to the line of plausible deniability and backing away with a coy wink to the folks in the cheap seats.
The Agema endorsement is a real departure, less of a dog-whistle than a dog-shout ‒ and you’ve got to wonder what the point is.
You could say that this means Johnson is desperate and will do anything to win, but the endorsement of a three-term state rep who hasn’t held office since 2012 doesn’t quite rival the Trump nod. Agema could bring literally tens of voters to the Johnson camp. But I suppose every little bit helps, particularly if you’re diligently courting the score of Michigan Republicans who long for the mortifying days of aught-14.
Picture it: Michigan, 2014 …
Agema was a thorn in the GOP’s side in the early 2010s, peppering social media and various speaking engagements with racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic remarks at a time when Republicans were desperate to be a big ‒ well, bigger ‒ tent party. And they couldn’t get rid of him; the RNC seemingly lacked a mechanism for ejecting a member who was just embarrassing.
What did he say that was so bad? Let’s go to the tape:
Agema is opposed to women’s and gay rights. He’s anti-same-sex marriage, natch, but takes it a step farther ‒ he doesn’t even like civil unions. On a conservative show in 2013, Agema said that homosexuality is like alcoholism. Later that year, the Freep reported, he suggested to a group in Berrien County that LGBTQ+ Americans “manipulate the health care system to get free benefits because of their risk of contracting AIDS.” He posted to social media in support of a Russian law criminalizing “gay propaganda” in 2014, adding, “Common sense in Russia!”
In a 2014 Facebook repost, Agema shared a piece whose author wrote that Black people “are different by almost any measure to all other people,” aren’t able to communicate or reason as well as other races and pose “a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike.” When the outrage rolled in, Agema insisted reposting didn’t mean he agreed with the author. (He’s just saying!)
At the GOP’s Michigan Grassroots PowWow in 2015, Agema was a featured speaker, even as his presence kept other prominent Michigan Republicans away, former Freepster Brian Dickerson wrote: “Over the next half hour, Agema takes on illegal immigrants (‘97% are in construction’), homosexuals (‘You will have more psychological problems, and you will die young’) and the federal judiciary (‘which is relying on foreign law to decide cases in American courts’).”
Here’s a 2015 column I co-authored: Agema “seems to believe that President Barack Obama has claimed to be a Muslim, and that all terrorists are Muslim. During the state’s 2012 right-to-work debacle, Agema posted to Facebook that he enjoyed seeing riot police mace and push back crowds of demonstrators (also known as ‘taxpaying citizens’) because it reminded him of his days in the military. With apparent sincerity, he tweeted an article from the satirical newspaper the Onion about a supposed illegitimate son of Obama’s. While serving in the Legislature, he supported cuts to a state program that buys clothing for orphans.”
Orphans, folks.
Amid significant public pressure from his fellow Republicans, Agema opted in 2016 not to run for reelection to the national committee. But he sure kept posting!
In 2018 he wrote on Facebook that “the goal of Islam is destruction of America via immigration demanded by the Quran-called Hijrah. They take over America via force like 911/ terrorism and via civilization jihad (immigration), which is peacefully at first, then aggressively once their numbers increase.”
This week, he posted that the U.S. should stop sending aid to any country whose citizens booed Donald Trump at a World Cup match, and later that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “guilty of sedition” and needs “to be deported,” adding, “No Muslim should hold any office because they do not recognize our constitution, but rather Islam/ sharia as the ultimate authority.”
I think you get the point.
When the messenger is the message
Twelve years ago ‒ before Trump’s second term became an all-out assault on Black history and the dreaded DEI ‒ Agema was beyond the pale. In retrospect, that’s almost quaint.
I’d like to say I’m puzzled by Johnson’s strategy. Cheerfully accepting the endorsement of a guy best known for homophobic, xenophobic racism ought to be a losing strategy.
But each of Michigan’s 49 governors has been white. If the subtext of your pitch is “Vote for me, I’m not the Black guy,” well. Agema is a fair brand ambassador.
Before last week, I wasn’t sure if many Michiganders really remember Dave Agema. But I suspect that in taking his endorsement, Johnson believes they know exactly who he is.
Nancy Kaffer is the editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it in print or online.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP candidate Perry Johnson endorsed by racist lawmaker | Opinion
Reporting by Nancy Kaffer, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Nancy Kaffer, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
