A Kansas GOP Fundraiser Let People Kick And Punch A Biden Effigy
Officials for the Kansas Republican Party are crying foul after a fundraiser for the Johnson County GOP featured an effigy of President Joe Biden that attendees could pay to physically assault.
Video from Friday’s “Grand Ol’ Party” event in Overland Park, Kansas, shows people punching, kicking and swinging a bat at a Biden mannequin wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt.
“This booth was hosted by a Karate school to promote their self defense class,” Maria Holiday, who chairs the Johnson County Republican Party, told The Kansas City Star.
Video of people kicking the Biden dummy was uploaded to the video platform Rumble, but later deleted. Below, however, you can see video of the event that Democratic commentator and attorney Kaivan Shroff uploaded to X, formerly Twitter.
BREAKING: Kansas Republican Party hosts fundraiser featuring accused child molester Ted Nugent where attendees could donate to assault President Biden in effigy.
A disgusting display designed to encourage political violence. The head of the Kansas GOP Mike Brown should resign. pic.twitter.com/K4V2EGYxH4— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) March 11, 2024
Kansas GOP officials condemned the effigy attacks.
In a Facebook post, former Kansas GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman wrote: “This conduct is shameful, and it is wrong.” He called for the resignations of Holiday, Kansas Republican Party chairman Mike Brown and Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden.
Kuckelman reminded his fellow Republicans that they were outraged “when Kathy Griffin engaged in similar shameful conduct against President Trump” and “rightfully demanded she be cancelled.” He insisted that party members “must speak equally as loudly in our opposition now.”
Kuckelman said that while he didn’t agree with Biden’s policies, “he is a fellow human being” and “no one should condone or defend this horrific and shameful conduct.”
Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R) said he couldn’t speak to the specifics of Friday’s event, but told the Star that “what may seem like a joke for many will be seen by some as an expansion of acceptable behavior with potentially tragic consequences.”
Republican congressional candidate Dr. Prasanth Reddy, a research oncologist in Johnson County, criticized the effigy attacks on X, saying that “ridiculous, thoughtless actions like this one distract from those trying to deliver solutions.”
In a statement to HuffPost, Holiday admitted the “events last weekend [were] tarnished by a brief incident where a mask depicting President Biden was added to an outside exhibitor interactive self defense display.”
Holiday said “the mask was regrettable and removed” and said “no one collected or solicited any funds or donations in exchange for hitting the training device.”
But plenty of people on social media had strong opinions on the matter ― and, yes, many of them mentioned Griffin’s 2017 photo with a fake bloody Donald Trump head.
The same republicans who destroyed Kathy Griffin’s career over her fake trump head photo are perfectly fine with this. https://t.co/dpFgz6I6X5
— 😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 (@aintscarylarry) March 11, 2024
Surely the folks who were crying about Kathy Griffin’s infamous Trump head photo will have words about this, right?
Right?
Will the DOJ go after these folks for “conspiracy to assassinate the president of the United States” like they tried to do with her, too?
Will the FBI be… https://t.co/H2A0YS4Y2M— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) March 11, 2024
Imagine, if you will, this was a Dem fundraiser and a Trump effigy was being assaulted. https://t.co/SJ09yhe6Pm
— Billifer 🇨🇦 (@billifer1973) March 11, 2024
Embarrassed to say, this occurred in my home state of Kansas. I say, Biden has done a great job as president! Like he says in a recent commercial, he knows how to get things done. Now, let’s talk about these thugs normalizing violence. That’s the real trouble here! https://t.co/e7t2T1puVP
— Lee White (@kansasdiaspora) March 11, 2024
This is sick. How people can be so triggered and angry is beyond my comprehension. Instead of continuing with extreme tribalism, we must find common ground. https://t.co/4sI6wsBhgh
— Eric Sorensen (@ERICSORENSEN) March 11, 2024
It’s a cult of rage and self pity, and this is the result. https://t.co/8r1XX7eGzU
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 11, 2024
I can’t imagine letting myself be filmed doing something like this. There’s no way I’m going to come out do it looking good. Weird ass behavior. https://t.co/z3ZUXHogul
— Jean-Michel Connard 좆됐어 (@torriangray) March 11, 2024
Remember the (appropriate) outrage over Kathy Griffin mimicking violence against Trump?
This was held by an official arm of the GOP.
You shouldn’t be surprised anymore.
But you should remain outraged. https://t.co/A7UWPohm73— Veterans For Responsible Leadership (@VetsForRL) March 11, 2024
This is the dead-end, dead-beat trash that Joe Biden is running against.
Giving up our country to this garbage is not an option. https://t.co/ds3eN2yLSj— Jonathan Gaffney 🇺🇸 (@JGaffneyUSN) March 11, 2024
