MI GOP Candidate Calls Attending January 6th Insurrection “Highlight of My Life”

WASHINGTON — Republican Michigan House candidate Angela Rigas said over the weekend that her attendance at the January 6th insurrection, which attempted to overturn a free and fair election and led to the deaths of police officers and civilians, was a “highlight of my life.” Rigas is one of three Michigan House candidates endorsed by Donald Trump who attended the insurrection; however, all of Trump’s endorsees in Michigan and across the country present direct threats to our democracy and have made pushing the “Big Lie” and overturning the 2020 presidential election central to their platforms. 

“Anyone who refers to a deadly insurrection that resulted in the deaths of police officers and civilians as the ‘highlight of their life’ has no moral compass and has no business serving in elected office,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “With these alarming comments, Angela Rigas has shown her lack of respect for the voters and our rule of law. It’s long overdue for the Michigan Republican Party to draw a line in the sand and make it clear that rhetoric and actions undermining our country should not be normalized by immediately disavowing Angela Rigas’ candidacy.” 

The American Independent: Michigan GOP candidate endorsed by Trump says Capitol riot was a ‘highlight of my life’

A Michigan state House candidate told the crowd at a “MAGA mixer” in Lansing on Saturday night that her attendance at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by supporters of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol was a “highlight of my life.” 

Angela Rigas, who has said she was on the grounds of the Capitol that day but did not go into the building with the rioters, is one of a number of far-right candidates in Michigan who have received Trump’s endorsement. Trump is fixated on the 2020 election, and is supporting candidates who back up his lie that the contest was stolen from him. 

Trump endorsed Rigas in December, writing that she is a “committed fighter” and a “champion for America First and for documenting 2020 Voter Fraud.” 

He made the endorsement after Rigas publicly said she was proud of her attendance at the riot, during which the pro-Trump mob injured nearly 150 law enforcement officers as it forced its way into the Capitol to try to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. 

In April 2021, Rigas said, “I didn’t expect to be called an insurrectionist or a terrorist or even a treasonist. I have to say, looking at things now, I consider all of those terms a compliment, because our Founding Fathers were called all the same things. So if you want to call me that, I’ll take it.” 

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee was the first and only entity committed to identifying, tracking, and condemning the Republican state legislators who participated in or aided the insurrection. Earlier this month, five additional Republican candidates for Michigan House admitted they attended the January 6th insurrection. The committee’s GOP of Hall of Shame: Sedition Edition tracks these lawmakers and candidates and ensures that every voter understands the GOP’s role in the insurrection. 

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