Illinois Republicans perpetuated President Donald Trump’s racist attack on four Democratic congresswomen of color on Sunday in an offensive tweet that was soon deleted after much outrage.
The attacks on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), known collectively as The Squad, has resulted in similar racist attacks across the country. A group of Republican white women who support Trump are calling themselves the “Real Squad” while a Louisiana police officer has called for shooting Ocasio-Cortez.
Now the Illinois GOP is getting into the act, this time by referring to AOC and her allies as the “Jihad Squad” on Twitter to portray them as terrorists.
“Political jihad is their game,” a tagline read. “If you don’t agree with their socialist ideology you’re racist,” said another.
The tweet has since been deleted but ABC 7 reported on it.
Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association drawing criticism after this post. Cook County Democratic Party condemning it. @cookcodems @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/V4enIrCcMg
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) July 21, 2019
Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider condemned the post, but continued to accuse the four congresswomen of being anti-Semitic just because they have criticized Israel for committing genocide against Palestinians.
“I strongly condemn evoking race or religion as the basis for political disagreement,” he said. “The recent social media post coming from the IRCCA does not reflect my values or the Illinois Republican Party’s values. Bigoted rhetoric greatly distracts from legitimate and important policy debates and further divides our nation.”
Here’s his full statement:
This statement from Tim Schneider the head of the Illinois Republican Party @ILGOP pic.twitter.com/pAq3PrLfjc
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) July 21, 2019
The Democratic response, as reported by The Hill, unequivocally condemned the tweet.
“The post perpetuates the recent attacks by President Trump, promoting lies and racism to alienate immigrants, women, and people of color. This language of hatred and bigotry has no room in our society and has dangerous consequences.”
Make no mistake, Trump’s attacks and the follow-up attacks by Republicans are nothing but pure racism and hate. They have nothing to do with policy and are designed to smear these four women of color and turn them into targets of the right-wing to gin up votes in the 2020 Election. Republicans should be ashamed of themselves because they are now the white nationalist party.
Featured Image: Instagram
