Video from Johnson County Republicans’ “Grand Ol’ Party” event in Overland Park, KS showing attendees punching, kicking and swinging a bat at a Biden mannequin wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt has drawn criticism from both parties.
The event was a fundraiser organized by the Johnson County Republican Party to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the GOP, and featured rocker Ted Nugent and former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline as the main attractions. The Johnson County GOP sold tickets to the event, which started at $100, and the state party promoted the event for weeks.
Former Kansas Republican Party chairman Mike Kuckelman condemned the antics in a Facebook post and called for the resignations of current state GOP chairman Mike Brown and Johnson County Republican Party chairwoman Maria Holiday. Other prominent Republicans joined Kuckelman in condemning the event.
Kuckelman reminded his fellow Republicans that they were outraged “when Kathy Griffin appeared in a photo shoot with a bloody Trump head as a prompt and “rightfully demanded she be canceled.” He insisted that party members “must speak equally as loudly in our opposition now.”
The simulated violence by Republicans at Friday night’s event contrasts with the message Biden delivered a day earlier in his State of the Union address. Biden encouraged members of Congress to “respect free and fair elections” and to “make clear political violence has absolutely no place — no place — in America.”
“It’s not hyperbole to suggest history is watching,” Biden added. “They’re watching. Your children and grandchildren will read about this day and what we do.”
Alex Floyd, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, told Kansas Reflector that Americans are tired of former President Donald Trump’s “divisiveness and cruelty.”
“While President Biden has made it clear that political violence has absolutely no place in America, this kind of gross stunt is reflective of the stark contrast we see from the GOP’s de facto leader, who spends his time praising murderous dictators, cheering on a deadly mob, and promoting hateful, violent rhetoric,” Floyd said.
Jeanna Repass, Kansas Democratic Party chairwoman, said Kansans needed to work together to solve issues — “not sow hatred, violence, division and fear.”
“There is absolutely no excuse for encouraging or condoning violence of any kind — on a president, a political opponent, a neighbor, or anyone,” Repass said. “This sort of extreme behavior is the result of increasingly violent political rhetoric that has gone unchecked over the last several years in our country. As Kansans and Americans, we need to work together to solve the issues we face — not sow hatred, violence, division, and fear.”
Dakotah Parshall, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, responded Monday afternoon to an inquiry made by Kansas Reflector on Sunday. He said the Biden effigy was the work of “an outside exhibitor in the karate/self-defense space” who rented a booth at the GOP fundraiser.
Parshall didn’t say whether anybody was responsible for screening vendors, or if anyone asked the vendor to leave.