Term-limited, outgoing Republican Michigan Senate Leader Mike Shirkey took the floor in Lansing to re-litigate previous battles with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and speak of various conspiracy theories in a 35-minute farewell speech that left the audience somewhat speechless.
Shirkey warned of forces that, he says, will challenge “the very fabric of our freedoms, independence, our sovereignty, our values and even our God given rights.”
“We are witnessing 2 Timothy Chapter 3 before our very eyes,” Shirkey told his colleagues, speaking of a passage about end times. “COVID was a test. These next challenges will be much more than a test.”
Shirkey said there’s a push to achieve “one world governance, one world religion, one world health care, one world currency and one world control.”
Shirkey foresees threats involving the World Economic Forum, central banks, artificial intelligence, climate change, “child sacrifice” and “trans whatever we can concoct.”
During his time as the Senate’s top leader, Shirkey has faced a string of controversies over his comments, including describing his bout with COVID-19 as a fight with the “Chinese flu army” and the release of a video in which he described the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as “a hoax” and said he wanted to challenge Whitmer to a fistfight.
Michigan Republicans Shirkey and House Leader Lee Chatfield were also summoned to meet with Trump in November ’20 under pressure, but reaffirmed their pledge to award the state’s electors to the winner of the popular vote.
The outgoing Senate leader told a series of stories during his speech, including one about reaching his hand into a Senate toilet to test the water temperature after noticing warmth in the bathroom.
“I put my hand in it, and it was hot water,” Shirkey said. “So I went back to the office and said, ‘Please, get a hold of maintenance staff around here and ask them why taxpayers are paying for hot water in our toilets.”
Michigan Democrats won control of the Senate for the first time in 40 years in November.