Kansas G.O.P. Event Punch and Kick Mannequin Wearing a Biden Mask

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The mannequin was dressed in a T-shirt that said “Let’s Go Brandon.” The county party chair said that “the mask was regrettable and removed.”

Kansas Republicans are coming under fire for holding a fund-raiser on Friday evening at which attendees physically assaulted an effigy resembling President Biden, according to video footage shared on social media over the weekend.

The event, which took place on Friday in Overland Park, Kan., the state’s second-largest city, was hosted by the Johnson County Republican Party and billed as “A Grand Ol’ Party: Johnson County Road to Red Event.”

The Kansas City Star was first to report on the footage. A video of the event shows attendees hitting and kicking what appears to be a body opponent bag — a lifelike mannequin with a head and torso often used for self-defense training — with a mask resembling Mr. Biden’s face. The mannequin was dressed in a T-shirt that said “Let’s Go Brandon,” a phrase understood to be code for swearing at Mr. Biden. Attendees also appeared to hit karate breaking boards that had the same derogatory phrase.

That footage, originally posted on the online video platform Rumble, according to The Star, has been taken down, but clips have been shared by accounts like “Republicans against Trump” on X.

In a statement, Mr. Brown said that no one from the state party had attended the event, and that the state party had not given any input on the displays, which he said showed “poor judgment” on the part of the outside exhibitor. He said that a “disgruntled former member of the state party” — an apparent reference to Mr. Kuckelman — was trying to “capitalize” on the incident.

“It’s unfortunate the events took place, and even more so the former state party member created a false narrative in order to spew rhetoric and capitalize on continued attempts to divide the party,” he said. “The internal fighting and false narratives within the Republican Party risk 2024 election outcomes in Kansas and across America, and they must end.”

Mr. Kuckelman, a frequent critic of Mr. Brown, said that he was disappointed that the two party leaders did not immediately condemn the attendees’ actions. “People see the extremism on both sides, and it’s unacceptable on both sides,” he said, pointing to an incident in 2017 when the comedian Kathy Griffin posted a video of her holding what appeared to be the severed head of President Donald J. Trump.

Johnson County has a large population of moderate voters who have tended to back Democrats in recent cycles. During the 2018 midterms, voters in the area aided Democrats such as Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas and Representative Sharice Davids, who flipped the Third Congressional District, which includes Overland Park, where the event took place. That formerly competitive seat is this year considered “likely Democrat” by the Cook Political Report.

Alex Floyd, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, called what happened at the fund-raiser a “gross stunt” that illustrated the contrast between the two parties going into the general election in November.

Ticket prices at the Friday fund-raiser ranged from $100 to $300, according to the invitation. Ted Nugent, the rock star and outspoken conservative who backs Mr. Trump, was a keynote speaker.

In his State of the Union address last week, Mr. Biden spoke of the need to “make clear that political violence has absolutely no place, no place, in America.” Echoing that sentiment, Democrats in the state were quick to denounce the incident.

Regardless of political party, there is absolutely no excuse for encouraging or condoning violence of any kind — on a president, a political opponent, a neighbor or anyone,” Jeanna Repass, the chair of the Kansas Democratic Party, said in a statement.