Democrats ‘do not belong to themselves. They belong to the members and precinct delegates of the Democratic Party…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Michigan Democrats plan to censure the Detroit state representative who thanked President Donald Trump for publicly touting hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug she believes saved her life after contracting the coronavirus.
State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, recovered from COVID-19 earlier this month and met with Trump shortly thereafter.
“Thank you for everything that you have done,” she told Trump during a White House meeting, adding that she would not have asked for hydroxychloroquine had he not hailed the drug as a “game changer.”
This meeting was unacceptable, according to Whitsett’s Democratic colleagues, who announced they will vote to censure her this weekend.
Whitsett “has repeatedly and publicly praised the president’s delayed and misguided COVID-19 response efforts, thereby “endangering the health, safety and welfare of her constituents, the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan,” the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization’s censure resolution states, according to the Detroit News.
If the censure passes, Whitsett will be barred from participating in the group’s activities for the next two election cycles, and she will not be allowed to receive the organization’s endorsement when she runs for reelection.
Upon hearing the news, Trump encouraged Whitsett to leave the Democratic Party.
Disgraceful. Should join the Republican Party! https://t.co/HMpXOEdgSA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2020
Whitsett, however, said she has no intention of leaving the Democratic Party, even if “they change their ways.”
But Whitsett is the only one who needs to change, said Jonathan Kinloch, chairman of the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party.
“At the end of the day, we have political systems. We have political parties, and political parties exist for a reason,” he said.
Kinloch said that Whitsett and others like her were effectively the property of the organization and had no business voicing their independent ideas or opinions.
“[Democratic politicians] do not belong to themselves,” he said. “They belong to the members and precinct delegates of the Democratic Party.”