Michigan Senate Leader on Microphone after Apologizing for Calling the Capitol Riot a Hoax: ‘I’m Frankly Not Taking’ Points I Tried To Make

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Shirkey, the state’s top elected Republican, told Gilchrist he was not repeating the arguments he was trying to make in a video that surfaced on Tuesday in which he was caught claiming that the The rioters were not Trump supporters and that the whole insurgency was a hoax. .

“Frankly, I’m not making any of the points I was trying to make,” Shirkey said in the captured audio of the conversation. “Some of the words I chose, I do, I regret at the end.”

The comments echoed a statement Shirkey released after the video was posted, which was posted to YouTube by a GOP party official from Hillsdale County, Michigan. “I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments,” he said.

Gilchrist explained the conversation he had with Shirkey on Wednesday morning from his perspective, telling CNN he entered into the conversation to tell the Majority Leader he would make a statement about the video.

“After finishing his summoning this morning, I let him know that I was going to make a public statement on the comments he made, on his hoax comment, on his comments on the governor, and I gave him a warning that I was going to make a statement on this, ”Gilchrist told CNN, referring to the insulting comments Shirkey made about Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, in the same video.

“I thought the conversation was over after I gave him this warning, and he decided to come back to me uninvited and go back on his conspiracy theory that anyone other than Trump supporters was behind the insurgency. which led to the deaths of people on Capitol Hill. “

In the video released Tuesday, Shirkey told Hillsdale County Republican Party officials that the riot at the U.S. Capitol was a hoax and espoused several conspiracy theories involving political leadership.

“They weren’t people from Trump,” Shirkey said.

“It has been a hoax from day one, everything was arranged in advance,” said Shirkey, claiming that the rioters “got on separate buses, everything was arranged by someone who was funding everyone. . “

“Why wasn’t there more security? It was ridiculous, everything was staged,” he continued, before pointing to conspiracy theories that Republican leaders – including the Senate minority Mitch McConnell – were sort of involved and wondering how and why some victims happened. or have been registered.

Gilchrist claimed that Shirkey addressed these comments directly in their conversation, telling CNN, “He was referring to the hoax comment, which is what he was referring to when speaking to me this morning.”

Shirkey had previously admitted that the video of his rioting statements was legitimate.

“I said some things in a video conversation that are not suited to the role I have the privilege of playing,” he said in his apology on Tuesday. “I have it. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with the occasional lack of language restraint are at least two.”

Based on his interaction with Shirkey, Gilchrist told CNN: “It is clear from the actions he took and the words he used that this apology was not genuine and that he did not have remorse for making those comments, saying only that he could use a few different words, but the substance was what he believed and he still believed that and so that apology was not real. “

“The fact that he chose to overtake, I think it’s a real shame,” he added.

Michigan Democratic Party President Lavora Barnes in a statement provided to CNN called on Shirkey to step down.

“Mike Shirkey has proven that he is totally unfit to lead and should step down immediately given his recent scandalous claim that the insurgency and violence on the United States Capitol was a hoax,” Barnes said in the statement.

“Shirkey has pampered and funded paramilitary groups and his latest comment has exposed him as a QAnon kook pushing conspiracy theories that foment violence to one group while trying to play statesman for others. Shirkey’s irresponsible actions endangered public health and endangered lives, and made Michigan a national laughing stock. ”

Images from the Jan. 6 uprising make it clear that many attendees wore Donald Trump-themed clothing and filmed their actions themselves, and law enforcement officials detailed the various communication failures that have contributed to the progress of the federal response.

The first recorded meeting with Shirkey was on Feb. 3 at Spangler’s Family Restaurant in Jonesville, Michigan, said Hillsdale County Republican Party Secretary Jon Smith, who told CNN he posted the video on his. personal YouTube page. “I didn’t trust him to be honest with me and wanted to expose his lies and maybe I need to keep it for my own record,” Smith said of his reason for filming Shirkey.

The Detroit Metro Times first reported on Shirkey’s comments.
The FBI and other Department of Justice law enforcement agencies continue to track down and prosecute dozens of people involved in the Capitol siege that killed five people, including a Capitol Police officer. More than 200 had been indicted on Tuesday afternoon.
So far, participants have come from various states, and some have been linked to far-right groups. Active military personnel and veterans are overrepresented among the top 150 people arrested and whose files have been released for federal offenses in violence and insurgency on the U.S. Capitol, according to CNN analysis of Pentagon files and court proceedings .

CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.

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