Matt Maddock

Last updated

Maddock had promoted the false claim that the 2020 presidential election, in which Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden, was marred by election fraud. In November 2020, Maddock and other Trump supporters protested at the TCF Center at Detroit to challenge the counting of votes because they felt the legal process was not being followed. [15] Maddock falsely claimed that 35,000 ballots "showed up out of nowhere" and that Democrats "were pretty much cheating in front of poll watchers." [16]

In December 2020, Maddock and Daire Rendon joined a federal lawsuit filed by Trump supporters to challenge the election results. The suit asked for state lawmakers to certify the election results, therefore letting the Republican-led Michigan Legislature to overturn Biden's victory in the state. The judge dismissed the suit, writing that their arguments were "flat-out wrong" and "a fundamental and obvious misreading of the Constitution." [17]

In January 2021, ahead of the counting of the electoral votes and the U.S. Capitol attack, Maddock and 11 other Michigan Republican state legislators wrote a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, urging him to refuse to count electoral votes from states won by Biden until a voter fraud investigation could take place. Responding to such calls, Pence replied in a letter to Congress, "It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not." [18]

Both Maddock and his wife, Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party [19] and a member of the national advisory board of Women for Trump, were present at the January 5, 2021 rallies. A video and photo of the couple speaking at that rally is no longer available on her Instagram account. Meshawn claimed she had organized 19 buses of people to attend the event. [20] Meshawn also texted, "As a leader for Republicans in Michigan, I'm going to stand shoulder to shoulder with Americans that know voter fraud is real. Voters no longer trust the system and we want people prosecuted. Now is not the time for summer soldiers and sunshine Patriots, now is the time for brave men to do the right thing. We never stop fighting." [19]

When the Maddocks walked to the Trump rally at The Ellipse on January 6, they said they couldn't get in and went back to their hotel. After the violent attack on the Capitol, Meshawn Maddock said that the rally was intended to be a "peaceful event"; that the people who "became a mob and broke the law should be held accountable"; and that she was "horrified by the death of the young woman and pray for the healing of our nation." [21] [22] [23]

Maddock was endorsed by Donald Trump on November 11, 2021. [24]

Prediction of political violence

Maddock's wife, Meshawn, was among sixteen Michigan Republicans who were indicted in July 2023 for alleged conspiracy in a fake electors scheme to overturn the 2020 Michigan presidential election results. At an August 2023 legal defense fundraiser at his home, Maddock told attendees that "if the government continues to weaponize these departments against conservatives" that someone would be shot "or we're going have a civil war or some sort of revolution." [25]

Claims of illegal immigration

On March 27, 2024, Maddock promoted the conspiracy theory that the governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer had invited a group of undocumented noncitizens to move to the city of Detroit [26] in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. In his posts, Maddock stated that three buses at Detroit Metro Airport were loaded up with "illegal invaders", and he was inquiring as to their destination. [27] In fact, the buses were chartered to transport the Gonzaga University men's basketball team to compete in an NCAA Sweet 16 tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. [28] [29]

Electoral history

Matt Maddock
Matt Maddock by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Maddock at the 2024 Hazlitt Summit hosted by Young Americans for Liberty Foundation
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Michigan State House 51st District Election 2022 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Matt Maddock 27,224 57.9 N/A
Democratic Sarah May-Seward19,76642.1N/A
Michigan State House 44th District Election 2020 [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Matt Maddock 35,416 59.5 N/A
Democratic Denise Forrest24,06740.5N/A
Michigan State House 44th District Election 2018 [32]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Matt Maddock 26,184 57.5 N/A
Democratic Laura Dodd19,33042.5N/A

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Republican Party</span> Michigan affiliate of the Republican Party

The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, United States, sometimes referred to as MIGOP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretchen Whitmer</span> Governor of Michigan since 2019

Gretchen Esther Whitmer is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 49th governor of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jocelyn Benson</span> Secretary of State of Michigan and academic

Jocelyn Benson is an American academic administrator, attorney, and politician serving as the 43rd Secretary of State of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former dean of Wayne State University Law School, a co-founder of the Military Spouses of Michigan, and a board member of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. Benson is the author of State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Amash</span> American politician (born 1980)

Justin A. Amash is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2021. He was the second Palestinian American and Syrian American member of Congress. Originally a Republican, Amash became an independent in 2019. He joined the Libertarian Party the following year, leaving Congress in January 2021 as the only Libertarian to serve in Congress. Amash returned to the Republican Party in 2024.

Rick Outman is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Michigan Senate, elected from the 33rd Senate district. He was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 70th district, from 2011 to 2017. He was term limited out in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Gaetz</span> American politician (born 1982)

Matthew Louis Gaetz II is an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district from 2017 until his resignation in 2024. His district included all of Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa counties, and portions of Walton County. A member of the Republican Party and a self-described libertarian populist, Gaetz is widely regarded as a proponent of far-right politics as well as an ally of Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise Stefanik</span> American politician (born 1984)

Elise Marie Stefanik is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 21st congressional district. As chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021, she is the fourth-ranking House Republican. Stefanik's district covers most of the North Country and the Adirondack Mountains, some of the outer suburbs of Utica, and the Capital District in New York. In addition to being the first woman to occupy her House seat, Stefanik was 30 when first elected to the House in 2014, making her the youngest woman elected to Congress at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Shirkey</span> American politician (born 1954)

Michael J. Shirkey is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Michigan State Senate and as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was first elected to the House in 2010 and to the Senate in 2014. His district, the 16th, covered all of Branch, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties. From 2019 to 2023, Shirkey was the majority leader of the Michigan State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Chatfield</span> American politician from Michigan (born 1988)

Lee Roberson Chatfield is an American former politician and a Republican former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was first elected from the 107th House district in 2015. He was speaker pro tempore from 2017 to 2019, and speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. In April 2024 he was charged with thirteen felony counts of embezzlement, larceny and conspiracy involving spending private foundation and state money for personal use while he was Speaker of the Michigan House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronna McDaniel</span> American political strategist (born 1973)

Ronna Romney McDaniel is an American political strategist who served as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2017 until her resignation in 2024. A member of the Republican Party and the Romney family, McDaniel was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Theis</span> American politician (born 1965)

Lana Theis is an American politician from Michigan. A member of the Republican Party, she has represented the 22nd district of the Michigan Senate since 2019. Theis was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019.

Daire Rendon is an American politician who served in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 103rd district from 2017 to 2023, succeeding her husband, Bruce, who was term-limited in 2016.

Beau M. LaFave is an American politician from Michigan. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives for District 108 from 2017 to 2022 and was a candidate for the Michigan Secretary of State election in 2022. He lost the Republican nomination to Kristina Karamo, who in turn lost the election to incumbent Democrat Jocelyn Benson.

Events from the year 2020 in Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan gubernatorial election</span>

The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of nearly 11 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin than Whitmer's first victory four years prior. Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.

Meshawn Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party who served as co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2021 to 2023 along with Chair Ronald Weiser. Previously, she was Chair of the 11th Congressional District for the Michigan Republican Party. She is married to Republican Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock. Maddock was charged with fraud in regards to her role as a fake elector for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan Attorney General election</span>

The 2022 Michigan Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of the state of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel ran for re-election to a second term. She was first elected in 2018 with 49.0% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tudor Dixon</span> American politician and commentator (born 1977)

Tudor Dixon is an American politician, businesswoman and conservative political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, Dixon was the party's nominee for Governor of Michigan in the 2022 election. She became the Michigan Republicans' first female nominee for governor. Dixon lost the election to incumbent Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer by 10.6 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan prosecution of fake electors</span> Criminal prosecution concerning Trump fake electors

People of the State of Michigan v. Berden et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Michigan. The sixteen defendants are accused of producing and attempting to use a false certificate of ascertainment containing electoral votes for Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Michigan. The defendants were indicted in July 2023 on criminal charges of forgery, uttering, and conspiracy, all felonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Rigas</span> American politician from Michigan

Angela Rigas is an American politician from Michigan. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in the 2022 election from the 79th district, and took office in 2023. After the 2020 presidential election, Rigas denied the election result and took part in the rally that preceded the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Legislator Details - Matt Maddock". Library of Michigan . Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Michigan Committee Statement of Organization". Michigan Secretary of State . Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  3. ↑ "10 take-aways from the 2018 Michigan primary election". August 8, 2018.
  4. ↑ "MI-Winners". November 8, 2018. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  5. ↑ Oosting, Jonathan (April 27, 2022). "Matt Maddock decries 'mess' after expulsion from Michigan House GOP caucus". Bridge Michigan .
  6. ↑ "Michigan GOP lawmaker floats bill to register, fine 'fact checkers'". The Detroit News. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Neavling, Steve (April 28, 2021). "Michigan GOP Co-Chair Maddock spreads more lies about COVID-19". Detroit Metro Times . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021. Rep. Matt Maddock, falsely claimed on Facebook in October that "COVID is less lethal than the flu."
  8. ↑ Dave Boucher, Michigan GOP leader shares misinformation on masks that suggests suing employers, Detroit Free Press (April 27, 2021).
  9. ↑ "HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 324". Michigan Legislature. Michigan Legislative Service Bureau. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  10. ↑ McFall, Caitlin (November 18, 2020). "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faces possible impeachment proceedings for 'corrupt conduct'". FOX News Channel (FNC). Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ Mauger, Craig (November 18, 2020). "Whitmer impeachment resolution introduced, but key Republicans oppose". The Detroit News . Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  12. ↑ Dodge, Samuel (September 18, 2020). "Michigan House Speaker calls effort to impeach Whitmer as 'shameful' as Trump impeachment". mlive.com . Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  13. ↑ Bridge Staff (November 19, 2020). "Whitmer impeachment resolution dead upon arrival in Michigan Legislature". Bridge Michigan. Center for Michigan. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  14. ↑ 'Backdoor to a mandate': Protesters, Republican lawmakers oppose COVID-19 vaccine passports, MLive (April 29, 2021).
  15. ↑ Neavling, Steve (May 12, 2021). "Rep. Maddock, who peddled lies about election fraud and COVID-19, wants to fine fact-checkers". Detroit Metro Times . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  16. ↑ How a Michigan couple radicalized the state's GOP and emboldened insurrectionists, Metro Times , Steve Neavling, February 17, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  17. ↑ Mauger, Craig (January 4, 2021). "Judge: Election suit involving 2 Michigan lawmakers 'flat-out wrong'". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  18. ↑ Donahue, Allison R. (January 7, 2021). "Before riot, 11 Mich. Republican lawmakers asked VP to delay certifying the election". Michigan Advance . Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  19. 1 2 Paul Egan, Clara Hendrickson (January 8, 2021). "Activist who organized buses to DC about to take Mich. GOP role". Detroit Free Press. freep.com.
  20. ↑ Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press (January 12, 2021). "Rep. Matt Maddock, wife join conservative Facebook group discussing possibility of civil war". freep.com.
  21. ↑ Jason Puckett (January 8, 2021). "VERIFY: Debunking false photos and claims of Antifa at Capitol riot". 9news.com.
  22. ↑ Mark Cavitt (January 14, 2021). "Michigan House Democrats sought to censure and investigate GOP Rep. Matt Maddock". theoaklandpress.com. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  23. ↑ Gustaf Kilander (January 7, 2021). "Six Republican lawmakers among rioters as police release photos of wanted" . Independent. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Endorsement of Matt Maddock". Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  25. ↑ Amy B Wang; Patrick Marley (August 11, 2023). "GOP lawmaker warns of 'civil war' at fundraiser for indicted Trump electors". The Washington Post.
  26. ↑ "Michigan GOP's Matt Maddock claims Gonzaga team plane and buses are 'illegal invaders'". FOX 2 Detroit. March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  27. ↑ LaBlanc, Beth (March 28, 2024). "GOP lawmaker slams 'illegal invaders' at Detroit airport. It was the Sweet 16 teams". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  28. ↑ Dale, Daniel (March 28, 2024). "Fact check: Michigan GOP legislator posted about 'illegal invaders' at Detroit airport. It was Gonzaga's March Madness team". CNN.com. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  29. ↑ Lobo, Arpan (March 28, 2024). "Michigan lawmaker says 'illegal invaders' landed at DTW. They were NCAA basketball teams". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Matt Maddock". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Election Results – General Election – November 3, 2020". Detroit News. November 3, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  32. ↑ "Election Results – General Election – November 6, 2018". Oakland County Michigan Elections Department. February 29, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.