Dem candidate in key Michigan House race once blasted police as a ‘structure put in place to oppress’

DETROIT — The Michigan Democratic candidate in a key race for control of the US House was a ferocious supporter of the “Defund the Police” movement following the death of George Floyd in 2020 — blasting cops as a “structure put in place to oppress.”

Kristen McDonald-Rivet, who is set to face off against Republican Paul Junge for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, made the biting remarks in a Facebook post on June 3, 2020 — a little over a week after Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

“Tonight’s protest in Bay City. We can’t stand silent,” McDonald-Rivet, 54, , showing dozens of people lying face-down on the ground with their hands behind their backs.

“George Floyd was murdered while pleading for his life and calling for his mother. Again and again this happens in cities across the country, born of a structure put in place to oppress,” she continued.

“It can’t be fixed with small gestures. We need an overhaul now. Demand action. Vote. Silence is betrayal.”

Michigan’s 8th Congressional District — which encompasses Flint and is currently represented by retiring Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) — is expected to be one of the country’s most competitive general election races, .

It has been as a toss-up heading into November.

Democrats currently hold a slim 7-6 majority in Michigan’s US House delegation.

McDonald-Rivet’s rival said he was disappointed by his opponent’s rash words.

“It was tone deaf and totally wrong,” Junge, 57, told the Post.

“To say the policing system was put in place to oppress is offensive. They’re there to protect people, and Kristen just doesn’t seem to get it.”

Homicides in Flint, the&nb💫sp;fourth-largest metropolita𒅌n area in Michigan, are up a disturbing 40% year-on-year, .

Junge said his opponent should have “shown better judgment,” especially during such a heated time.

“This wasn’t something she said when she was 19,” the Republican candidate said. “She was an adult, she had a professional background, and she should have shown better judgment.”

Michigan’s progressive Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has endorsed McDonald-Rivet in the House race.

The day after McDonald-Rivet protested Floyd’s death in Bay City, Whitmer violated her own COVID-19 social distancing executive order and , a small Detroit suburb.

Back in 2020, McDonald-Ri💦vet was still in the private sector, working at a non-profit. She ran for and won a state senate seat in Nov. 2022, representing the Bay City-Saginaw area. She was in office less than a year when Rep. Kildee announced he would not seek re✱-election.

McDonald-Rivet won the Democratic prim🃏ary to replace Rep. Kildee, beating out two fellow Democrats.

If she wiꦍns i🐼n November, she will remove a Democratic vote from the Michigan Senate, which Democrats control with a slim 20-18 majority.

McDonald-Rivet did not res💃pond to a request for comment.