Republicans in the congressional district that represents western Minnesota are seeing a backlash from a Facebook post calling Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the state’s “Head Muslim Goat Humper.”
The post, which was taken down shortly after it was posted Monday to the Minnesota 7th District Republican Party’s Facebook page, said U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., “has been sliding up to Minnesota’s Head Muslim Goat Humper, Keith Ellison. Heck, they’re now hunting buddies.”
The post went on to ask if Muslim refugees were coming to western Minnesota.
Peterson recently announced he would run for re-election. He has served in the House since 1991, and his district covers most of western Minnesota. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, represents Minneapolis.
Minnesota Republican officials since apologized for the post. District Chairman Craig Bishop wrote in an email the individual who posted the image acted without consulting anyone with the party’s leadership and has resigned upon Bishop’s request.
ADVERTISEMENT
“He is now not on our board and will not be returning,” Bishop wrote. “It’s an internal matter and the individual no longer represents our party.”
Bishop declined to name the individual.
Minnesota’s GOP chairwoman, Jennifer Carnahan, told the Herald the post did not align with the values of her party or District 7, calling it “repugnant hate speech.”
“I have a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech or any type of language that is offensive like that,” she said, adding she doesn’t feel a post like this will jeopardize the GOP’s chances of winning the district.
Dave Hughes of Karlstad, Minn., who announced shortly after the 2016 election he would challenge Peterson in 2018, condemned the post and said he would ask his party to change its policies when it comes to posting information to social media.
“We should stick to policy discussions and discussions of political philosophy, because I’m confident we will win every time if we stick to that,” he said. “For months, I have not liked the tone of the CD7 Facebook page. It’s snarky, it’s cheap and it is not how we should be conducting business. We want to attract followers to our party, not risk alienating them with tasteless stuff like that.”
State Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, also is running against Peterson as a Republican.
Peterson and Ellison also did not return messages left by the Herald seeking comment.
