Following Friday's "Midwest Battery Roundtable" event at Green Township Hall, representatives from Team Moolenaar and Gotion have engaged in accusation responses at one another.

Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion Inc. – North American Manufacturing, made the following statement Friday afternoon in response to the morning event.

“The congressman conducted a carefully orchestrated political rally with biased participants and handpicked audience members with no actual input from the public," Thelen said in the release. "In fact, five of the six participants of the event don’t even live in Mecosta County. Being that the event took place on taxpayer-funded property, the public should have been given a chance to get their voices heard. Instead, it was a partisan sideshow with a preconceived outcome. 

"I was unable to attend the meeting due to a previously scheduled family vacation, but I offered multiple names that could attend and outline the community’s true opinion; however this offer was rejected," Thelen continued. "Because I do want to talk with Congressman Moolenaar regarding several issues, he was invited to be a guest on this Monday’s “Chat with Chuck,” our monthly virtual town hall meeting where we do take questions from local residents. He did not accept the offer with no further explanation.”  

Gotion also combatted allegations regarding forced labor, ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and threats to the U.S. national security.

Following this response, Team Moolenaar issued a statement regarding Thelen's invitation.

“It is sad that Gotion’s North America VP took a break from his vacation to lie about Congressman Moolenaar’s successful public roundtable in Green Charter Township on Friday," Press Secretary for Congressman John Moolenaar, Jacob Huner, said via a press release. "Despite what he says, the event was open to all members of the community. If Gotion's VP cannot tell the truth about the simple details of a public roundtable, there is no reason to believe he is telling the truth about anything else, including his company’s supply chains and their links to the CCP’s use of slave labor.

"We hope he enjoyed his time in the great American outdoors and realized he should stop trying to help a CCP-affiliated company expand its presence in America," Huner continued. "We will not participate in the propaganda phone calls of his company, and media members should use extra caution when reporting anything Gotion tells them."

Team Moolenaar also posted screenshots of the invitation via Moolenaar's social media platforms Facebook and X.

Thelen has stated he previously offered Moolenaar to attend his "Chat with Chuck" Monday meeting, but Moolenaar reportedly did not accept the offer and left no response.