Chaos Erupts at IN GOP Convention as Mike Braun’s Hand-Picked LG Running Mate Loses to Far-Right Extremist

Chaos Erupts at IN GOP Convention as Mike Braun’s Hand-Picked LG Running Mate Loses to Far-Right Extremist 

Chaos broke out this weekend at the Indiana Republican Party’s convention after U.S. Senator and Republican nominee for governor Mike Braun’s hand-picked candidate for lieutenant governor Julie McGuire was defeated by Christian nationalist pastor Micah Beckwith. McGuire lost even after Braun’s team “called in a favor” to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed McGuire just before the convention.

As the IndyStar notes, Beckwith has a history of “spouting deranged ideas,” including claiming that “God told him he sent the rioters to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021,” and leading the charge to ban books from his post on a local library board.

Despite his unhinged record and positions, Braun bent his knee to Beckwith immediately after he secured the lieutenant governor nomination, claiming “everything you believe in, I have as well.

While they posed for photos together, behind the scenes Braun’s camp was panicking. According to Politico’s Adam Wren, a memo from the secretary of Mike Braun’s political non-profit was circulated, outlining the “serious threat” Beckwith poses to Braun’s campaign, including claiming that Beckwith “makes the general election very dicey,” and that the “rejection of Julie” is “an implicit rejection of Braun” and “undermine[s] his leadership going forward.” The chaos even caused the chair and executive director of the Indiana Republican Party to step down from their respective posts immediately following.

 “After a bruising primary battle, Mike Braun’s troubles with his own party have only continued,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “Braun’s embrace of Beckwith is the latest confirmation that he is running on an extreme agenda to continue ripping away fundamental freedoms and dividing Hoosiers. Braun is too dangerous to be Indiana’s next governor.”

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