Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson believes “great leaders listen,” but she has no issue shutting out her constituents when she doesn’t like what they have to say.

“Great leaders listen,” Benson posted to X on Wednesday. “I Had a fantastic time catching up with my friend and Grand Rapids City Councilman Marshal Kilgore (sic) over coffee at Last Mile Café. We talked about what’s at stake for Michigan’s future and how we can work together to create meaningful change. Let’s keep the conversation going.”

Great leaders listen. I Had a fantastic time catching up with my friend and Grand Rapids City Councilman Marshal Kilgore over coffee at Last Mile Café. We talked about what’s at stake for Michigan’s future and how we can work together to create meaningful change. Let’s keep the… pic.twitter.com/yhcalLWPW0

— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) February 12, 2025

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The post included staged photos of the Democratic candidate for governor posing with her coffee, and smiling with Kilgore as the duo toured the shop. Marshall Kilgore serves as a Grand Rapids city commissioner. The city doesn’t have a council.

Benson’s self-promoting post drew more than 100 comments from her followers, the vast majority negative, including many expressing surprise they were able to comment at all.

“’I will be the Governor of transparency!’” Benson critic Christian Charette posted. “While also illegally restricting replies on an account used for official purposes.”

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“’Great leaders listen,’” another wrote, including a screen grab from X showing they were previously blocked from following Benson’s posts. “Well I guess that rules you out.”

“Do they also leave their X reply buttons open to hear from constituents?” yet another post read.

“Wow we can reply again?!” another X user replied. “Imagine that!”

Michigan state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, also weighed in after the flood of negative feedback.

“Time to shut off the comments,” he wrote.

It appeared Benson heeded that advice.

Her very next post to X was accompanied by a familiar message: “Who can reply? Accounts @JocelynBenson follows or mentions can reply.”

The tactic to shut down critical voices is one the former hate crimes investigator for the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center has deployed repeatedly when she can’t handle the heat.

In November, Benson shut down comments on her X feed when the vast majority of comments expressed outrage over a Chinese national who cast an illegal ballot during the 2024 election.

The criticism included comments from her Republican competition for governor, Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt, who pointed out Benson’s lies to Congress just a month prior.

“Last month, @JocelynBenson  sat before Congress and denied that non-citizens were voting in our elections. That was wrong then and it’s wrong now. What’s it going to take to get our top election officer to do her job and make sure only citizens vote?” Nesbitt posted.

Benson has also restricted access to a listening tour of the state she dubbed “Purpose Driven Community Conversations.”

Those conversations, held in Michigan’s mostly Democratic urban areas, were carefully orchestrated to allow Benson to hear directly from “local leaders all across our state, to listen, learn, and hear more about what we all can do better,” she wrote in a post to X.

Benson launched her community conversations tour just days after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he’s ditching the Democratic Party to run for governor as an Independent.

Yet unlike Benson’s focus on hearing from “local leaders” and Democratic bureaucrats, Duggan told The Associated Press he plans to “go to communities across the state that have been forgotten and sit in neighborhood restaurants and farmhouses and city centers and listen to people.”