The Michigan Republican Party chairman who called female Democrats in the state “witches” and spoke of a “burning at the stake” in the 2022 elections was censured by the governing board at the University of Michigan, where he is a regent.
However, Ron Weiser declined fellow regents’ call for his resignation.
The 75-year-old GOP power player took “full responsibility” for what he called “poorly chosen words” referencing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, state Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. He also pledged during a virtual meeting “to be part of a respectful dialogue going forward” and asked his colleagues do the same.
But in response to calls for him to step away from his role at the university, to which he had donated more than $120 million, Weiser said “I will not be canceled.”
Five Democratic regents voted to remove Weiser from his committee assignments. A sixth Democrat was absent. The board’s two Republicans, including Weiser, did not vote.
Weiser said last week in reference to other Democratic rivals that “Other than assassination, I have no other way other than voting out.”
Regent Jordan Acker accused Weiser of fanning “the flames of hate and division” and noted a heavily armed militia group was plotting to kidnap Gov. Whitmer before the FBI foiled that plot in October. He also took exception to Weiser’s choice of words Friday.
“Accountability is not cancellation,” Acker said. “What you said contributed to a culture of violence.”
Weiser’s elected term as a university regent ends in 2024. Fellow regents can not expel him.
With News wire services