TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) 鈥 Two top Kansas Republican Party officials are facing internal calls to resign over a viral online video showing people at a fundraiser kicking and beating a mannequin wearing a mask of President Joe Biden, underscoring the national GOP's deep divisions and problems winning over suburban voters.
Mike Brown, the Kansas GOP's state chair, and Maria Holiday, the leader of the party in Johnson County in the Kansas City area, distanced themselves from the display at a Friday evening fundraiser for the county party. the state GOP blamed an outside vendor who rented space at the event to promote a martial arts school.
Brown said in an email Tuesday that the state party wouldn't comment further. Holiday did not respond to a text message seeking an interview. The vendor has not been named.
The calls for their resignations started over the weekend with Brown's predecessor, Mike Kuckelman, a Kansas City attorney and frequent Brown critic, and quickly led to bipartisan condemnations amid widespread news coverage. The state GOP accused Kuckelman of creating 鈥渁 false narrative" and dividing the party.
The conflict between Brown and Kuckelman reflects the split in the national GOP between former President Donald Trump's most ardent, election conspiracy-promoting supporters and its more establishment wing, including former Republican 春色直播 Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel. Kuckelman supported McDaniel's reelection in 2022, while Brown wanted her out. Trump now fully controls the RNC
The dispute is also notable because the fundraiser was in Johnson County, the state's most populous, where 20% of Kansas voters live. The county, which includes Kansas City suburbs, has become bluer since Trump's election as president in 2016. It was key to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's victories in 2018 and 2022 and became an area where it was increasingly difficult for GOP statewide candidates to win.
鈥淭his disgusting visualization of violence went viral. This doesn鈥檛 just go away,鈥 Kuckelman said during an interview Tuesday. 鈥淭his does not help win independent and soft Republican voters.鈥
The Friday fundraiser featured 1970s rocker Ted Nugent, known for his backing of gun rights, hard-right political views and support for Trump, with tickets ranging from $90 for students to $300 for premier seats. The mannequin with the Biden mask also wore a 鈥淟et's Go Brandon鈥 T-shirt, using a slogan that's become conservative code for directed at the Democratic president.
The incident in Kansas also came after Trump's campaign rhetoric Last fall, he suggested that shoplifters should be immediately shot. He called his opponents 鈥渓owlifes,鈥 threatened news organizations and later told a crowd in Iowa that he wouldn't be a dictator
Governor Kelly said video of the Biden effigy shows Americans need to 鈥渞everse course鈥 and make political disagreements less contentious.
鈥淚t鈥檚 indicative of how low we鈥檝e gone in political discourse,鈥 she said in a brief interview at the Statehouse.
Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, condemned all political violence. He said it鈥檚 important for people to use good judgment at a time when elected officials in both parties have faced threats across the U.S. Last year, more than 100 Kansas legislators, including Hawkins, received threatening mail with white powder that turned out not to be dangerous.
鈥淲hat may seem like a joke for many will be seen by some as an expansion of acceptable behavior with potentially tragic consequences,鈥 Hawkins said in a statement Tuesday.
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, another Wichita-area Republican, added that 鈥渢asteless displays of violence鈥 don't attract voters.
鈥淲e should be focused on promoting conservative ideas, electing Republicans, and defeating Joe Biden at the ballot box,鈥 he said in a statement texted to The Associated Press.
In a Monday evening, the Johnson County GOP described the Biden mask on the mannequin as only 鈥渁 brief incident.鈥
鈥淭he mask was regrettable and removed," the statement said. 鈥淣o one collected or solicited any funds or donations in exchange for hitting the training device.鈥
The Kansas GOP said in a statement over the weekend that no one from its staff attended the event, and called Kuckelman 鈥渁 disgruntled former member of the state party."
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate the events took place, and even more so the former state party member created a false narrative in order to spew rhetoric and capitalize on continued attempts to divide the party,鈥 the statement said.
But Kuckelman said blaming the vendor is 鈥渄isingenuous鈥 because the party controlled the event and decided which venders were there. He recalled the furor in 2017 when comedian Kathy Griffin took part in a photoshoot that showed her holding up a fake bloody head that resembled Trump's.
鈥淚f this had happened when I was chair, if a vendor pulled a stunt like this, I would have immediately shut it down and had them escorted off the premises,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is so far over the line, you can鈥檛 just say, 鈥楽top.鈥欌
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Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
