Republican activist “Trucker Randy” Bishop, previously labeled a bigot for his support of nationally known bigot Dave Agema, announced over the weekend that he is supporting Robert Young, the second African-American chief justice on the Michigan Supreme Court, in Young’s likely bid for U.S. Senate in 2018.
On Facebook, Bishop, a northern Michigan talk-radio host, said he got a voicemail from Young, “an old friend,” which quickly led to a full-throated endorsement of the former jurist who retired from the high court in April.
Here’s how Bishop described the sequence (it’s a little hard to read because Trucker Randy doesn’t seem to know how to properly use commas, ellipses, semi-colons or quotation marks):
Voicemail: Hey Trucker, … it’s Bob Young and I’m contemplating running against Debbie Stabenow in 2018, … and I would like your advice and counsel, … Please call me back when you can, … Thank You.
I called him back, … and my first question was; “Why the heck do you want to go to Washington??? His answer: “To get rid of Do-Nothing Debbie and make the U.S. Senate get some things done for Michigan”!!!
My response, … “Oh heck YES”!!!
For some reason, party leaders continue to curry favor from this oaf, though he is a two-time felon who declared war on the Michigan GOP in 2013-14. Those who worked to secure the trucker’s support include the two most recent state party chairs, Ronna Romney McDaniel (now RNC chair) and Ron Weiser.
As for Agema, while serving from 2012-16 as a Michigan representative on the Republican National Committee he posted racist, homophobic and Islamophobic commentaries online that made him the scourge of Republicans nationwide. Attempts by Michigan Republicans and the RNC, including then-chair Reince Priebus, to push Agema out repeatedly failed.
Meanwhile, in one of the national media reports that featured a screenshot of an Agema-posted racist screed on Facebook, there in full view was Trucker Randy’s “Like” for Agema’s message that claimed blacks are culturally incompatible with American life. The trucker reportedly “Shared” the Agema message and urged others to do likewise.
Trucker Randy has fancied himself the leader of the Michigan Tea Party while he served as the Antrim County GOP chairman, even as he routinely offered caustic criticism of the Republican rank and file.
In 2013, he said on his radio show that mainstream Republicans don’t just “drink the Kool-Aid,” as the saying goes. They pour it into their rectum.
Things haven’t changed much since then. The trucker is still a knucklehead. And top Republicans remain eager to shake his hand.
