The Detroit News reports that on Saturday, Detroit Democrats will vote on a resolution to “censure and bar any future endorsements” of Michigan State Rep. Karen Whitsett, a first-term lawmaker representing the 9th Michigan House District. The Democratic lawmaker from Detroit tested positive for COVID-19 and after becoming quite ill, she was prescribed hydroxychloroquine which she claims saved her life. My colleague, Jennifer Van Laar, posted about this story here.

Whitsett has said she “wouldn’t have thought to ask her doctor for it had President Trump not highlighted the drug as a potential treatment.” She is pretty excited about the drug. She spoke glowingly about it on Tucker Carlson’s show. On April 14, she attended a COVID-19 survivors meeting held at the White House with President Trump and Vice President Pence, during which she again praised hydroxychloroquine.

At the meeting, Whitsett told Trump, “Thank you for everything that you have done. I did not know that saying thank you had a political line…I’m telling my story and my truth, and this how I feel and these are my words.”

The 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization wasn’t too happy with her breach of protocol, hence the Saturday vote. A vote of censure “means she will not get the group’s endorsement for this year nor will she be able to engage in the group’s activities for the next two election cycles.”

Jonathan Kinloch, chairman of the organization, told The Detroit News, “At the end of the day, we have political systems. We have political parties, and political parties exist for a reason. They do not belong to themselves. They belong to the members and precinct delegates of the Democratic Party.”

Kinloch said their problems with Whitsett began with another matter that clearly was a smokescreen for praising the drug that Democrats nationwide are discrediting because President Trump has touted it.

Whitsett said, “I will continue to fight for the city of Detroit and the people in Detroit who need it the most, and that is the black community. We’re the voiceless, and I don’t care who I got to go up against to do that. I’m a Democrat, and I plan on continuing to be a Democrat, but they will change their ways. I have my First Amendment right, and no one will take that away from me.”

According to Kinloch, on Sunday, his group had “asked her to come in for a “screening” of candidates for her house district” and “Whitsett refused.”

Kinloch said, “Don’t play with us. This is very serious when we ask to have a conversation with you and you choose not to. We’re not going to accept that. How they handle you in Lansing as far as the Democratic caucus that’s on them. But how we handle you back at home, that’s on us.”

Whitsett told The Detroit News she “didn’t have time for the screening. I don’t have time for politics. That’s ridiculous, during a pandemic, that they think I have time for a screening…I have people that need me.”

The Detroit News let their bias show, They wrote, “While hydroxychloroquine is effective at treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, the drug can be dangerous for people with certain heart conditions.”

Detroit Democrats plan to vote Saturday to censure and bar any future endorsements of a Democratic lawmaker who credited President Donald Trump with advocating for the drug that she said cured her of COVID-19. https://t.co/pUhtEs1nBG

— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) April 23, 2020