The Republican Party of Minnesota has condemned a meme that was posted on an official Facebook page calling Rep. Keith Ellison a “Muslim goat humper.”
Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District Republican Party posted the meme on its official Facebook page Monday night, claiming that Rep. Collin Peterson “has been sliding up to Minnesota’s Head Muslim Goat Humper, Keith Ellison. Heck, They’re now Hunting Buddies.”
It featured a photo of Mr. Ellison, the new deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, dressed in camouflage holding a wild turkey he apparently had shot. The post was up for several hours Monday night before it was eventually deleted, the Star Tribune reported.
Jennifer Carnahan, the newly elected chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, issued a statement calling for the “immediate resignation” of the person responsible for the post, saying the party would not tolerate such behavior.
She later announced that the person had resigned.
The 7th CD has received the immediate resignation of the individual responsible This person no longer represents our party.
— jennifer carnahan (@jkcarnah) May 2, 2017
Ms. Carnahan also issued an apology to Mr. Ellison on behalf of the Republican Party of Minnesota.
“The Facebook post is in no way reflective of the values of our party or the values of the Seventh Congressional District, and the swift manner in which it was handled and responded to demonstrates our zero tolerance policy for hate speech,” she said, the Star Tribune reported.
A new post by Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District Republican Party said it “deeply regrets” the incident and that the individual responsible no longer has access to the account.
Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, issued a statement Monday calling the post “racist” and “hate-filled.”
“Americans across the country have witnessed a disturbing increase in this type of threatening behavior and fear-mongering since the election of Donald Trump, and now it seems the Minnesota Republican Party is embracing it all too much,” he said.
Mr. Ellison on Tuesday tweeted thanks to Mr. Martin for “denouncing hate.”
.@kenmartin73, thank you for statement from the Office of the DFL Chairman, denouncing hate | Minnesota DFL https://t.co/ejAdiKVjAE
— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) May 2, 2017
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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