Black GOP candidate for governor wants to end Black History Month
'It's offensive, unfair, maybe illegal,' Austin Chenge contends. 'Americans from all backgrounds deserve a revered history.'
Austin Chenge, a Michigan businessman, is the first Republican to announce his intention to challenge popular Democrat Gretchen Whitmer for the office of governor in the Great Lakes State.
Chenge, a Black man, announced on his Instagram page that, if elected, he will “cancel Black History Month in Michigan.”
“It’s offensive, unfair, maybe illegal,” he contended. “Americans from all backgrounds deserve a revered history. I’ll declare American History Month.”
The post has garnered mixed reception, with both supporters and detractors having their say.
One wrote, “VERY impressed that you said this out loud!!! Cancel pride week too. We are all Americans. None of us are better than others. All these things do is keep us divided. You have my vote!!!!!” Wrote another: “Hallelujah! No more division.”
Chenge, who announced his candidacy for Michigan governor last spring, spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally in the state’s capital in November. He also defended the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, saying “some of them were overcome by passion, more passion than others and may have acted in a way that they didn’t intend to when they went there.”
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The day after the deadly Jan. 6 attack, Chenge tweeted: “#CapitolBuilding : Yesterday, I saw Americans doing everything necessary to ensure their God-given freedoms, their rights and their #American way of life, some were overwhelmed by more passion than others, but all for the love of their country. Austin For #Governor of Michigan.”
Chenge, a U.S. Army veteran of Nigerian descent, is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 35-year-old’s website says he studied law at Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
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His website declares he will cancel any contracts with Dominion Voting Systems on his first day in office and says he’ll “introduce the biggest tax cuts in Michigan history.”
Chenge also says he will provide more access to mental health while still cutting government spending. Among his campaign promises is one to “Defend our Constitution, Our God-given rights, our unborn citizens and our American family values.”
The next election for governor of Michigan is November 2022.
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