Even GOP governor can't stomach his party's latest Islamophobic smear

The Massachusetts Republican State Committee boasted on Wednesday that it had “overwhelmingly” voted to adopt a resolution smearing Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). After fact-checkers noted that the Islamophobic resolution contained an array of fabricated attacks on the only two Muslim American women in Congress, even the state’s highest-ranking Republican condemned his own party for its false and degrading statement.

The resolution begins with the false claim that “Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have aligned themselves with the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas.” And it goes downhill from there, accusing them of Holocaust denial, as well as aiding and abetting convicted terrorists.

As Boston.com and Commonwealth Magazine noted, the claims — reportedly modeled on a resolution passed by the Alabama GOP in August — have been repeatedly debunked by fact-checkers. Donald Trump has also repeatedly smeared the two, demanding they leave the country.

On Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA) was asked by WGBH radio about his party’s resolution.

“I don’t think it accomplishes very much, and I think it degrades public discourse,” he responded, noting that the resolution was not even factually accurate. “While I certainly probably don’t agree a lot with either of those congresswomen, they were duly elected by the people of their districts, and that’s who they’re accountable to.” He added that it “does exactly the wrong thing with respect to what we should be trying to do with public dialogue.”

Prodded by the program’s co-host about whether Trump has made such smears an “art form,” Baker agreed that he has. “I have a terrible problem with all this stuff,” the governor answered. “So yeah, I have a problem with that, too.”

Since Trump’s rise, hate crimes have increased significantly — including bias attacks on Muslim Americans.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.