ANALYSIS
Democratic candidate for Michigan governor faces questions over SPLC past
Jim Runestad, president of MIGOP, noted in remarks to Fox News Digital that Benson's time on the SPLC board coincides with the period when, according to the Justice Department, the organization reportedly began "paying the KKK and other extremist groups."
Joe Biden awards Presidential Citizens Medal to Jocelyn Benson.
Leading Democratic gubernatorial hopeful in Michigan Jocelyn Benson is under pressure from state Republicans over her past ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), after the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a formal indictment against the organization for fraud related to far-right groups.
The SPLC, founded in 1971, is known for monitoring extremist groups and providing information to authorities and media. According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2023, the organization secretly diverted more than $3 million in donations to individuals linked to various violent groups.
Trump described the organization on Friday as "one of the greatest political scams in American History" and linked it to other cases that he said are part of a broader Democratic scheme that includes ActBlue.
MIGOP demands explanation for Benson's stint at SPLC
The Michigan Republican Party posted Thursday on its official X account that "Jocelyn Benson regularly touted her experience as a leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a group that the Department of Justice says secretly funneled money to the KKK and other hate groups they were purportedly tracking."
"What did Jocelyn know, and when did she know it?" the post read.
Jim Runestad, president of MIGOP, noted in remarks to Fox News Digital that Benson's tenure on the SPLC board coincides with the stagein which, according to the Justice Department, the organization allegedly "paying the KKK and other extremist groups."
"Benson owes an explanation to the public in what she knows about the SPLC's alleged criminal behavior, considering the criminal activity started around the same time Benson was named to the Board," Runestad said in a statement.
The Democrat's campaign told Fox that "Jocelyn Benson has spent her career advancing the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and expanding economic opportunity, including helping dismantle white supremacist and neo-Nazi extremist networks responsible for hate crimes across the country."
In 2023, Joe Biden presented the Presidential Citizens Medal to Benson during a ceremony marking the second anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021.
LATEST
