Kansas GOP blames Biden-beating exhibit at fundraiser on ‘poor judgement’ of outsider

A Kansas Republican Party newsletter from Friday highlights the fundraiser event that night with headliner Ted Nugent. (Illustration by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — The executive director of the Kansas Republican Party said Monday that an event at a GOP fundraiser Friday night that allowed people to kick and beat the president in effigy was the result of “poor judgment” by an “outside exhibitor.”

The fundraiser was organized by the Johnson County Republican Party to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the GOP, and featured rocker Ted Nugent and former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline as the main attractions. The Johnson County GOP sold tickets to the event, which started at $100, and the state party promoted the event for weeks.

Video posted on social media showed individuals taking turns attempting roundhouse kicks at a dummy wearing a President Joe Biden mask and “Let’s Go, Brandon” T-Shirt. Former Kansas Republican Party chairman Mike Kuckelman condemned the antics in a Facebook post and called for the resignations of current state GOP chairman Mike Brown and Johnson County Republican Party chairwoman Maria Holiday. Other prominent Republicans joined Kuckelman in condemning the event.

Dakotah Parshall, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, responded Monday afternoon to an inquiry made by Kansas Reflector on Sunday. He said the Biden effigy was the work of “an outside exhibitor in the karate/self-defense space” who rented a booth at the GOP fundraiser. Parshall described Kuckelman as a disgruntled former member of the state party who didn’t attend the event but “saw an opportunity to capitalize on the poor judgement of the outside exhibitor.”

Parshall didn’t say whether anybody was responsible for screening vendors, or if anyone asked the vendor to leave.

“It’s unfortunate the events took place, and even more so the former state party member created a false narrative in order to spew rhetoric and capitalize on continued attempts to divide the party,” Parshall said in an email. “The internal fighting and false narratives within the Republican Party risk 2024 election outcomes in Kansas and across America and they must end.”

The simulated violence by Republicans at Friday night’s event contrasts with the message Biden delivered a day earlier in his State of the Union address. Biden encouraged members of Congress to “respect free and fair elections” and to “make clear political violence has absolutely no place — no place — in America.”

“It’s not hyperbole to suggest history is watching,” Biden added. “They’re watching. Your children and grandchildren will read about this day and what we do.”

On Monday, Alex Floyd, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, told Kansas Reflector that Americans are tired of former President Donald Trump’s “divisiveness and cruelty.”

“While President Biden has made it clear that political violence has absolutely no place in America, this kind of gross stunt is reflective of the stark contrast we see from the GOP’s de facto leader, who spends his time praising murderous dictators, cheering on a deadly mob, and promoting hateful, violent rhetoric,” Floyd said.

The Kansas Democratic Party, meanwhile, seized on the controversy to ask for donations.

In a fundraising email, Kansas Democratic Party executive director Andy Bilyk said “this extremism has no place in Kansas.”

“Can you chip in any amount today to show Kansas Republicans this kind of behavior is unacceptable?” Bilyk asked.

In a separate news release about the video of people beating Biden in effigy with a foam bat, Jeanna Repass, Kansas Democratic Party chairwoman, said Kansans needed to work together to solve issues — “not sow hatred, violence, division and fear.”

“There is absolutely no excuse for encouraging or condoning violence of any kind — on a president, a political opponent, a neighbor, or anyone,” Repass said. “This sort of extreme behavior is the result of increasingly violent political rhetoric that has gone unchecked over the last several years in our country. As Kansans and Americans, we need to work together to solve the issues we face — not sow hatred, violence, division, and fear.”

House Minority Leader Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat, said he wasn’t surprised to hear about “the Biden effigy debacle.” He pointed a finger at former President Donald Trump.

“This is the natural consequence of the unforgiving, violent rhetoric Trump brings to the table,” Miller said. “Rather than virtue-signaling through predictable, run-of-the-mill condemnation statements, I’d rather my colleagues across the aisle model the respectability they’re demanding from the fundraiser hosts. Actions mean more than words, clearly.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.