While the rest of the country is watching the historic trial of Donald Trump in New York, local Republicans are hosting a currently indicted co-defendant of Donald Trump’s. After Trump lost Georgia in the 2020 election, election worker Ruby Freeman was repeatedly lied about by Trump and threatened by his supporters, so she called 911. Election denier Stephen Lee appeared at Freeman’s home on consecutive days, banging on her door. Lee was then criminally indicted in Georgia for what The Washington Post described as “[trying] to coerce an election worker to falsely confess to voter fraud.” Antioch Township Republicans, who are featuring Lee as Special Guest Speaker at their May 1st meeting, pathetically describe it instead as “a political and religious persecution.”
“Rather than stand up to Donald Trump and his MAGA extremism, local Republicans continue to move closer and closer to Trump. Embracing an indicted Trump co-defendant who allegedly intimidated an election worker shows how out of touch the local Republican Party has become. Lake County voters have overwhelmingly rejected Trump before, and they are seeing more and more how the local Republicans fail to reflect their values. Democrats are going to win again in Lake County in 2024 because the contrast between Democrats who get things done and extremist Republicans is so clear,” said Lake County Democrats Chair Lauren Beth Gash.
Remarkably, this is just the latest example of local Republicans embracing the indicted Stephen Lee. (Click here for more.) In October 2023, the Antioch Republicans held a fundraiser featuring Lee’s attorney, himself an election denier who had been sanctioned earlier in the year for filing a frivolous election challenge. The GOP event was attended by Republican nominee for Congress in the 10th District, Jim Carris, and Mary Cole, the Republican nominee for Lake County State’s Attorney, among others.
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| Antioch Republicans describing the criminal indictment of Trump co-defendant Stephen Lee as a “political and religious persecution” in their invite to their May meeting where Lee is a Special Guest Speaker. |