State GOP chair Karamo takes on DeVos family in Republican divide

FOX 2 (WJBK) - The new state GOP chairwoman is underscoring the deep divide in the Michigan Republican Party. Kristina Karamo is blasting a handful of major GOP financial donors who are discussing ways to form a shadow party.  

"A lot of people gravitate simply to maintain power," Karamo said. "They are not interested in actually solving problems."

When Kristina Karamo and Matthew DePerno ran for statewide office last November, the major establishment Republican donors in the party reportedly did not open their check books to help them. Now there is chatter that Betsy DeVos and her husband and others are discussing forming a shadow party while ignoring the new party chair whose policies they don't like."

"I'm not going to waste my mental energy on these people," said Karamo, adding these are the people who have ran the party into the ground. "Three cycles in a row, Republicans have been completely dismantled. These are the same individuals who were in charge. Clearly they didn't know what they were doing."

But her critics contend, under the influence of former President Donald Trump who endorsed Karamo and DePerno the party was crushed at the ballot box last November.

The new chairwomen pledges to find others to fund the 2024 vote and she won't try to appease others.

"This is appalling. Is this what politics is about? Keeping four or five people happy at all times to get their money at the expense of all the other people of this state," Karamo said. "I'm a populist. It's about putting people first."

Related: State GOP leader Karamo doubles down on gun control tweet invoking Holocaust imagery

Apparently peace is not at hand in the state's Republican Party - and Democrats could not be happier.

State GOP Chair Kristina Karamo