Republican National Committee Votes to Censure Dave Agema

The Republican National Committee's has formally censured West Michigan's Dave Agema for what they called "harmful rhetoric" and demanded his resignation.

National Party Chairman Reince Priebus announced the censure of Agema, a former state representative from Grandville. Agema has been widely criticized for remarks and posts on social media considered insensitive to gay people, Muslims and African-Americans.

When announcing the decision to censure Agema, Priebus said, "Agema's history of harmful and offensive rhetoric has no place in our party."

Priebus then announced that the RNC would censure Agema, and urged the Michigan Republican party and voters to explore options to discipline Agema for his actions.

Agema found himself in the RNC's cross-hairs on New Years Day after posting an essay from American Renaissance, a white-supremacist newsletter.

The article, which Agema said he found "very enlightening," argued that "blacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike."

Agema has since deleted the Facebook post, but has refused to apologize or resign from the RNC.

This isn't the first time that Agema has found himself in hot water with his own party. Many members of the RNC had first called for his resignation last year leading into the 2014 winter meetings after he had criticized gays in a speech in Berrien County, re-posted a defense of a Russian anti-gay law on Facebook, and re-posted a third party article questioning whether Muslims had done anything to improve American culture.

Many Republican officials are also calling for Agema's resignation.

Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins sent a scathing letter to RNC members recommending a vote on a resolution calling for Agema's resignation. If he does not resign, Mullins has asked that the RNC pass a resolution "making it clear that Mr. Agema's abhorrent views and words have no place in our party — and that he in no way speaks for us."

Mullins also wrote, "Mr. Agema may be able to ignore the voice of his home state, but I am hopeful he will not be able to ignore the voice of the entire country."

[WZZM-13]