You’ve probably never heard of the city of Shawnee, Kansas, and the citizens of Shawnee were probably fine with that. If the residents of this suburban municipality on the outskirts of the Kansas City ever did entertain dreams of drawing national attention to itself, they probably hoped it was for a reason other than the one Kris Kobach forced upon them this weekend.
You remember Kris Kobach of Kansas, the Republican Secretary of State of this deep-red middle American bastion? The Harvard, Oxford and Yale educated lawyer made a name for himself attacking immigration laws and pushing legislation in multiple states that was designed to suppress the minority vote.
He made national headlines when President Donald Trump tapped him to lead a blue ribbon commission to uncover the phantom 6 million or so votes he insisted were cast illegally for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. After multiple lawsuits against Kobach for secrecy, corruption, and abuse of power – and after failing to convince even Republican states to surrender all of their sensitive voter data to Washington, D.C. for what amounted to a fishing expedition – the commission was forced to disband.
That humiliating defeat on the national stage pushed Kobach back into state politics. Today he’s in the middle of the race to replace the catastrophic gubernatorial reign of Sam Brownback. His campaign brought him to Shawnee on Saturday, where the town held its annual Old Settler’s Day celebration.
The centerpiece of Old Settler’s Day is a parade through town, and Kobach decided to participate in it by riding on a ‘float’ of sorts. That is, if you call a military jeep painted in an American flag-themed livery armed with a .50 caliber machine gun a float.
This was the scene from this morning during the Old Settler’s Day parade Sec of State/Gubernatorial candidate #KrisKobach was in the parade in a souped up Jeep with a replica gun
On a day when thousands are dressed in orange to plea for an end to gun violence #ksleg @CJOnline pic.twitter.com/SxdIId8nXF— MichaelLoBurgio (@MikeLoBurgio) June 2, 2018
The display was so shocking that the city of Shawnee had to issue a written apology on social media.
Statement regarding the parade today. pic.twitter.com/FX1RBTcstE
— City of Shawnee, KS (@CityofShawneeKS) June 2, 2018
“We want to apologize for the concern and frustration involved with Mr. Kobach’s parade entry,” the statement opens. “In no way does this or any parade entry or float directly reflect the views and values of the City, the Old Shawnee Days Board or the Old Shawnee Days Society.”
“Again,” the statement reiterates, “we apologize and understand the concern this caused.”
Kobach’s in a tight primary race with current Governor Jeff Colyer, who took over when Brownback resigned earlier this year and left the state in shambles. His cheap campaign stunt – and the humiliating blowback – certainly won’t help his chances in the Republican primary.
You can read the entire scathing statement from the city of Shawnee below.
Statement regarding the parade today. pic.twitter.com/FX1RBTcstE
— City of Shawnee, KS (@CityofShawneeKS) June 2, 2018
