Austin Chenge, veteran, businessman and Black Republican has decided to run for governor of Michigan against incumbent, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Chenge vows that if he wins the 2022 race, he will “cancel” Black History Month and replace it with “American History Month.”
“I will cancel Black History Month in Michigan. It’s offensive, unfair, maybe illegal… Americans from all backgrounds deserve a revered history. I’ll declare American History Month,” Chenge said.
Chenge is Whitmer’s first Republican challenger having announced his run back in October 2020.
This isn’t the first controversial statement Chenge has made. In January, he defended Capitol rioters, saying: “Some of them were overcome by passion, more passion than others and may have acted in a way that they didn’t intend to when they went there.”
He backed those statements with the following tweet: “Yesterday, I saw Americans doing everything necessary to ensure their God-given freedoms, their rights and their #American way of life, some were overwhelmed by more passion than others, but all for the love of their country. Austin For #Governor of Michigan.”
Chenge has called Gov. Whitmer a “dictator” due to her COVID-19 restrictions across the state. In late 2020, Whitmer was victim of a failed kidnapping and murder plot by militia groups.