House GOP Leader Matt Hall breaks silence on state rep's 'great replacement' post
LANSING — House Minority Leader Matt Hall said Wednesday that state Rep. Josh Schriver should not have shared a post on social media touting "replacement theory" — a conspiracy theory espoused by racist groups that asserts there is a coordinated and clandestine effort to replace white populations in majority-white countries.
Hall also expressed no concerns with House Speaker Joe Tate's decision to strip Schriver, R-Oxford, of his staff and committee assignments over the post Schriver shared in February.
"We should not use these terms," Hall, R-Richland Township, said during a roundtable discussion with reporters before the Legislature adjourns for spring break.
Hall did not use the word "racist" in describing the "great replacement" post that Schriver shared on the social media platform X, and his comments fell short of the condemnation Democrats have requested. But Hall said lawmakers and other public servants "have to understand how other people feel about the words you use."
Hall had not previously commented publicly on the controversy, though he said he gave on-the-record comments to a reporter in early March that did not result in a story. On Feb. 21, House Democrats announced an advertising and petition campaign attacking Hall over his silence on the issue.
On Wednesday, Hall said he's discussed the issue with both Schriver and Tate and has encouraged Schriver to communicate in a more effective, inclusive and sensitive way, though Hall stopped short of saying he had encouraged Schriver to apologize.
Hall said he'd never heard of "replacement theory" before Schriver brought it to his attention.
Tate, D-Detroit, who is Michigan's first Black house speaker, told him that the term has been associated with lone wolf shooters and other violence, Hall said.
"If you understand where he's coming from on that, then you understand we should not use these terms," Hall said. "If these lone wolf shooters are using these terms, then it hurts people's feelings and it's distracting from what we're trying to do if you talk about it that way. So we have to be responsible for the words we use and we have to do a better job as public servants of communicating that in ways that are sensitive to how people feel in their experience and are also effective in what we are trying to do."
Hall said he believes Schriver was trying to address the issue of illegal immigration. That's a real issue that impacts crime and housing and is unfair to legal immigrants, Hall said.
"I agree with him that we need to solve the problem," Hall said of Schriver and illegal immigration. "What I shared with him is there is a way to communicate that in a way that is inclusive and in a way that resonates with people across our state."
Hall added: "These theories are not reasons to solve that problem," and "I don't agree with the theories."
Schriver said in a Wednesday text message he knows many people are concerned about the way illegal immigration is discussed. "I hear them and I want there to be room enough for my very conservative constituents in the conversation," he said. Schriver did not immediately respond when asked whether that response was a "no" to what Hall was proposing.
Hall, asked if he was OK with Tate stripping Schriver of his staff and committee assignments, said it is within Tate's power to take what actions he deems appropriate.
"That's between them," he said.
Hall noted he and most of the caucus voted in favor of a recent resolution, prompted by the Schriver incident, that condemned racist and white supremacist language.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GOP leader talks about Rep. Josh Schriver's 'great replacement' post
