Capitol News

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was previously a board member of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Benson, who became Secretary of State in 2019, had previously said she left the board after she took office.

“Upon taking office as Michigan Secretary of State, Secretary Benson informed SPLC leadership that she would be stepping down from the board,” a tweet from the Michigan Department of State said. “Her responsibilities in Michigan are her priority and focus.” 

An opinion contributor to USA Today has called SPLC a “hate-based scam.” 

However, SPLC’s biography page for Benson had already listed her as the secretary of state before it disappeared from the website, which means Benson didn’t immediately leave the board once she took office. 

The SPLC has been accused of being a far-left extremist group operating under the guise that it’s a non-partisan organization.

Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen wrote in 2018 that while SPLC once did important work like filing civil rights lawsuits against the Ku Klux Klan, it has since started labeling anyone that doesn’t agree with it a hate group or an extremist.

“The SPLC once did important work fighting the Ku Klux Klan,” Thiessen wrote. “But when it declares Maajid Nawaz, the Family Research Council, Ben Carson and Charles Murray as moral equivalents of the Klan, it loses all integrity and credibility.”

Two weeks before Benson’s information disappeared from SPLC’s website, a scandal erupted involving SPLC co-founder Morris Dees alleging sexism and racism. Its then-president, Richard Cohen, also announced his resignation. Tyler O’Neil with PJ Media suggested that the scandal could possibly be why Benson chose to distance herself from the organization.

The SPLC has faced criticism for becoming a political organization masquerading as an objective, non-partisan group. 

Essentially, the SPLC has been accused of leading a far left charge within the liberal establishment, pressing Democrats further to the left. 

“It has become a caricature of itself, labeling virtually anyone who does not fall in line with its left-wing ideology an 'extremist” or “hate group,'" Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen said.