Former Detroit Police Department Chief James Craig has been a Republican “for many years” and voted for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, he said.
Craig condemned Democratic policies that he said promote a “victimhood mentality” and criticized Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom he is expected to challenge for the governorship in 2022, at an event hosted by the Jackson County Republican Party on Tuesday.
“The truth is, I’ve been a Republican for many years,” Craig said. “While my role as chief of police rendered my party affiliation moot, the truth is that I’ve long had conservative values. I was raised in the church. I was taught to respect my elders. I saw firsthand the importance of hard work, self-reliance, and a can-do attitude.”
“I was committed to personally remaining nonpolitical in my public role in keeping communities safe as police chief,” he added. “Privately, I found that my life experiences were leading me to vote Republican, including for President Trump in both elections.”
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Being born black in Detroit meant Craig was automatically considered a Democrat, he said before describing experiences that led him to the Republican Party.
One of those experiences was a meeting he had with Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters following the beating of Rodney King and during his time as president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, an organization representing African Americans working for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Waters “showed disrespect” to the group, asking how its members, being black, could work for the department, Craig said.
“It dawned on me — how could this elected leader, a Democrat who we believed represented us, stoop to such a low level?” he asked.
Between this incident and others, including his time as chief of police of Portland, Maine, where he began to see that legal gun ownership served as a deterrent to crime, Craig came to embrace Republican policy priorities.
“Over time, as you’ve had your own life experiences and an opportunity to form your own worldview, you come to your own conclusions,” he said.
Craig, who has yet to announce a gubernatorial bid, criticized Whitmer by name, suggesting she has governed the state as a monarch.
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“Please listen to me, Gov. Whitmer,” Craig said. “America isn’t a monarchy. We aren’t ruled by kings and queens. We ended that back in 1776.”
“Make no mistake, at the ballot box in November in the year of 2022, we will be celebrating our independence from the rule of Gov. Whitmer,” he added.
Craig, who retired from the Detroit Police Department in May after eight years of service, has condemned Democrats, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, for their comments about police.
“She should resign,” Craig said of Tlaib, who has called for an end to policing altogether. “I’d love to see her resign. I’d throw her a goodbye party.”
Craig would be the second black individual to be on Michigan’s general election ballot for governor as a Republican if he were to prevail in the state’s Republican primary.
