David Agema

David Agema (born February 11, 1949) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Presently a member of the Republican National Committee and the chairman of the Top Gun Republican political action committee, he is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. Agema, formerly a commercial pilot for American Airlines, is a Vietnam Era veteran. He currently resides in Grandville, Michigan.

Early Life and Education

Agema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 11, 1949, in an American family of Dutch origin. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Calvin College in 1971 and an M.B.A. from Central Michigan University in 1975.^[1] He served as a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.^[1] In 1978, he joined the Air National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.^[1] Agema then worked for American Airlines and later as a business consultant.^[1]

Political Involvement

Agema is a pro-life Republican, who is actively vocal in his opposition to same-sex marriage and civil unions.^[2]

Agema served three terms (the constitutional limit) in the Michigan House of Representatives, from 2007 to 2013, representing parts of the Grand Rapids area. He was elected at the 2012 Michigan Republican State Convention to the Republican National Committee, defeating incumbent Saul Anuzis.

Political Controversies

In 2013, he faced calls to resign from the Republican National Committee after he posted extracts from an article entitled "Everyone Should Know These Statistics On Homosexuals" which claimed homosexuals lived a "filthy lifestyle", were responsible for 50 percent of U.S. murders and that many are paedophiles. Agema was rebuked by RNC chairman Reince Priebus, who drew a distinction between Republican policies on gay rights and the language used in Agema's post, adding "all human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect".^[3]

Later that year, Agema was condemned by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder after alleging homosexuals were in favor of healthcare reform because "they're dying between 30 and 44 years old."

In addition to his comments about homosexuals, Agema rhetorically asked, "Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?" Muslim Republicans took offense to this and cited contribution from their families and friends. Additionally, his bill to ban foreign law was seen as a blanket attempt to engender paranoia against Muslims.^[4] The Muslim comments, "styled as an open missive to President Obama", led to the resignation in 2015 of a Maine private-academy lacrosse coach who had re-posted them on Facebook.^[5]

On Dec. 31, 2014 he posted the text of an article that ran in the white supremacist magazine American Renaissance, which included sentences such as "[B]lacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike.".^[6] RNC Chairman Reince Priebus subsequently called on him to resign his RNC position.^[7] On January 7, 2015, in the wake of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper headquarters in Paris, Agema posted a Facebook status implying that Islam should be declassified as a religion under the Constitution of the United States, claiming that Islam is "not to be tolerated".

Electoral History

Personal life

He has been married for more than forty years to his wife Barb. They have three children and seven grandchildren.^[1]

References