Tudor Dixon (néeMakary; born May 5, 1977) is an American politician, businesswoman, andconservative political commentator.[1] A member of theRepublican Party, Dixon was the party's nominee forgovernor of Michigan in2022. She was the party’s first female nominee for governor.[2] Dixon lost the election to incumbentDemocratic GovernorGretchen Whitmer by 10.6 points.
Before her career in media, Dixon was an executive at Michigan Steel Inc, her father's steel foundry.[7][8][9] In 2017, Dixon co-founded Lumen Student News, a now-defunct news site that producedconservative-leaning lessons for grade school students.[3]
In 2018, she became a conservative commentator, anchoring the weekly programAmerica's Voice Live onReal America's Voice, a streaming news and opinion channel.[3][10]
In March 2023, Premiere Networks launched The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network, with Dixon becoming their debut host.[11][12][13] She hosts “The Tudor Dixon Podcast”.[14]
In May 2021, Dixon announced her candidacy to become the Republican Party's nominee forGovernor of Michigan in the2022 election, seeking to challenge incumbent DemocratGretchen Whitmer.[15] In a July 2022 Republican primary debate, Dixon pledged loyalty to Trump.[16] During the campaign, Dixon promotedDonald Trump'sattempts to overturn the election.[17][18][19] In a May 2022 debate, when asked, "Do you believe Donald Trump legitimately won the 2020 election in Michigan?," Dixon responded, "Yes."[20] In subsequent media appearances, Dixon would not say whether she still held that belief.[20][21]
Trump endorsed Dixon after Trump's former Secretary of EducationBetsy DeVos wrote a letter to the former president, asking him to support Dixon, whom DeVos termed "the only one who can stand toe to toe with" Whitmer.[22] In August 2022, Dixon won the Republican primary.[23]
Dixon supports a ban on all abortions except solely when necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman,[32] and would oppose any exceptions for rape or incest.[33] She has also said she does not believe the mother's health is a sufficient reason, saying that the "health of the mother and life of the mother are different."[34] In an interview, she described the example of a 14-year-girl raped by her uncle as a "perfect example" of an abortion that she believes should be prohibited, adding, "a life is a life for me."[35][36] In follow-up interviews, she has repeated her belief that there should be no exceptions for victims of rape and incest.[37] Following her run for election, Tudor Dixon hosted President Trump on her podcast where she said President Trump encouraged her to talk about abortion differently. “You came to me and you said, ‘You got to talk differently about abortion.’ And we could not pivot, we could not pivot in time,” Dixon said.[38]
In a Fox News interview, Dixon praised former United Nations AmbassadorNikki Haley for her answer on abortion during a GOP primary debate, where Haley argued Republicans should find "consensus" by focusing on banning late-term abortions, encouraging adoptions and fostering policies that protect doctors and nurses who don't want to perform abortions. "It was the perfect response," Dixon said.[39]
In a June 2020 episode of herAmerica's Voice Live show, Dixon said "our kids are not at risk" of catchingCOVID-19. When Whitmer brought this up during an October 2022 debate, Dixon denied making the comment and said "My own children have had COVID, so I would never say that."[40][41]
Following an October 2022 decision to include COVID-19 vaccines on the CDC's optional immunization recommendation schedule,[42] Dixon alleged that "liberal policymakers are pushing COVID-19 vaccines on our children and forcing parents out of the process". According toMichigan Advance, the state "does not have a vaccine mandate for COVID-19 and unvaccinated children are not precluded from attending school"; the media outlet further noted that "This is not the first time Dixon has toutedmisinformation about COVID-19 and children".[43][44]
In a June 2020 episode of her show, Dixon invoked a conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 pandemic was part of a plot that Democrats have planned for decades in order to topple the United States.[45]
Dixon plans to found Education Savings Accounts, which can hold funding for students to use on various options of schools.[46][47] In order to establish Education Savings Accounts, she has called for the repeal of the state's constitutional provision prohibiting public funding of private schools.[46]
Dixon proposed a piece of legislation that would ban teachers from talking about sexual orientation orgender identity with K-3 students.[48] She called for the resignation of the leader ofMichigan's Department of Education due to LGBT training materials, stating that "our schools are laboratories for their social experiments and our children are their lab rats."[49]
In June 2022, Dixon spoke in support of a bill that would prohibitdrag shows in public schools and permit parents and guardians to sue schools that host drag shows.[50] Critics highlighted the lack of evidence for such events in Michigan schools,[6] and they pointed out that drag shows were not defined in the bill.[50]
Dixon has made public comments that have been condemned asracist by a journalist and an activist, such as defending the usage ofblackface. She also describedhijabs as "oppressive garments".[51] She thinks thatPlanned Parenthood aims to control the black population and that theGeorge Floyd protests were part of a scheme by Democrats to take down Donald Trump.[52][53] During her campaign for governor, Dixon made a gender-based attack, suggesting her opponent is not a "real woman".[54]
Dixon supports tax cuts, especially by ending the state's flat income tax of 4.25%,[55] which makes up one-sixth of the state's total budget.[56] Her plan to replace revenue lost by the tax cut relies on tourists from other states.[57] Dixon has vowed not to cut police funding.[58] Dixon has criticized Gretchen Whitmer for her order to shut down the Line 5 pipeline, arguing that the closing will only lead to an increase in energy prices.[59] She has also criticized Whitmer's policies regarding nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.[60] Dixon, whose grandmother died at a nursing home amid the pandemic,[61] accused Whitmer of being "ruled by fear".[60]
Dixon supports the Michigan Voter ID Initiative.[62] If passed, the initiative would require governmental ID to vote, end the sending of unsolicited applications for absentee ballots, abolishballot drop boxes, prohibitballot harvesting, restrict election expenses to be publicly funded, and toughen punishments for election fraud.[63][64] Dixon also called for an audit of the 2020 election results in Michigan.[citation needed]
.jpg)
