Snake oil salesman Garrett Soldano becomes the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to begin qualifying

Today, Garrett Soldano will be submitting petition signatures to be on the ballot as a Republican primary candidate in August. Since joining the gubernatorial race in April 2021, Soldano has emphasized his extremist beliefs and remained stuck in the past rather than offering plans to move Michigan forward. 

Soldano will impose a wrong-for-Michigan agenda should he get elected in November:

Soldano Doesn’t Believe Women and Families Should Have the Freedom to Make Their Own Reproductive Healthcare Decisions

Despite Michiganders agreeing that the decision to get an abortion should remain a private healthcare decision between a woman and her doctor, Garrett Soldano has already pledged to ignore the will of the people to force his extreme agenda on women and families. Describing himself as “unapologetically pro-life,” Soldano expresses his intent to “do everything in my power to protect life and push back against the abortion lobby in Lansing.” He also suggests that anti-choice “pregnancy centers” should receive taxpayer dollars.

Soldano Has Repeatedly Propped Up Any and All Election Conspiracy Theories to Cast Long-Term Doubt on the Integrity of the Democratic Process

Rather than offering plans to move Michigan forward, Soldano is a fervent election conspiracy theorist stuck relitigating the 2020 election and hell-bent on putting the state through a costly and unnecessary Arizona-style audit. In September, he held a rally in Antrim County – attended by “over 3,000” fellow election conspiracy theorists – to echo the baseless belief that the 2020 election was stolenin spite of the fact that “there have been more than 250 audits of Michigan’s election and all of them have confirmed the 2020 Election was secure.” 

Soldano Has Been Caught Lying to the Public, Questioned by the FBI, and Banned From a Number of Social Media Platforms for Spreading Anti-Vaxx Disinformation

Some of Soldano’s most public failures include using bogus signatures and lying to the public to wage a battle against long-standing Michigan state law, being questioned by the FBI for extremism, and getting banned by Facebook for “advocating the spread of COVID-19.”

Last year, he was permanently banned from YouTube for “making videos that contained false messaging against COVID-19” and “unsubstantiated claims about the pandemic, including, those who have suffered with COVID-19 don’t need to be vaccinated.” And his similar anti-vaxx disinformation campaign on TikTok earned him national attention for the way he used the platform to “[cast] doubt on the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effectiveness of masks” and “[question] the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”

Soldano is a Snake Oil Salesman That Pushed a Sham Miracle Cure at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Soldano operated as the national marketing director of Juice Plus+, a product he claimed would “literally” turn consumers’ bodies “into an environment of greatness and you’ll dominate any virus.” His snake oil salesman-type false advertisements of the product were so aggressive it forced the company to “issue a statement backing away from the claim” two months later.

MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement: 

“Garrett Soldano submitting his signatures to make it onto the primary ballot ensures that Michiganders will have a clear choice between Governor Whitmer’s strong leadership and dangerous extremism in November. Since before launching his campaign, Soldano has embraced election conspiracy theories, been a mouthpiece for life-endangering disinformation, and showing working families at every turn that he won’t work across the aisle to keep them first. That’s a lack of leadership Michigan can’t afford.”

The post Garrett Soldano Submits Signatures, Setting Up His Wrong-for-Michigan Extremism to Be on the GOP Primary Ballot appeared first on Michigan Democratic Party.