GOP ASKED TO REPUDIATE NM LEADER’S ANTI-MUSLIM LETTER - TOPHead of Otero County Republican Women: ‘I believe Muslims are our enemies’
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/21/08) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on state and national Republican Party officials to repudiate anti-Muslim comments written by a New Mexico GOP leader in a letter to the editor.
In her letter to the Alamogordo Daily News, headlined “Why I'm a Republican,” Otero County Republican Women Chairperson Marcia Stirman wrote: “I believe Muslims are our enemies.” She also called presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama a “Muslim socialist.” In 2002, Stirman ran for public office on the GOP ticket.
SEE: Why I'm a Republican
Otero County Republican Women is an affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW).
SEE: NTRW - Local Clubs
In 2007, a speaker at the NFRW national convention launched a virulent rhetorical attack on Islam and Muslims. The speaker, a leader of an anti-Islam hate group, was applauded loudly as he called Islam a “cult” and said terrorists are “honest” Muslims. He also stated that anyone who believes Muslims are not the “enemy” is “incredibly ignorant or a simple-minded fool.”
VIDEO: GOP Women's Group Promotes Anti-Muslim Hate
“Because these hate-filled remarks were made by a prominent Republican, it is incumbent on state and national GOP officials to repudiate her divisive and intolerant views,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
He added that Stirman’s bigoted views are in stark contrast to those of former Secretary of State Colin Powell who on Sunday rejected Islamophobia in political campaigns.
SEE: CAIR Applauds Powell’s Repudiation of Political Islamophobia
Awad also noted that Muslim Republicans recently challenged an Islamophobic heckler at a rally for Sen. John McCain in Virginia.
SEE: Defending Islam at a McCain Rally (Politico)