Minnesota’s Republican Party apologized Tuesday for a hateful message targeting Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) that a state party official posted on Facebook, WCCO-TV reports.
The post appeared Monday night on the party’s official 7th Congressional District Facebook page before it was removed several hours later.
It depicted Ellison on a hunting trip with a shotgun, posing with a wild turkey he apparently shot. A caption calls the congressman the “Head Muslim Goat Humper,” a reference to Ellison’s religion.
The post said Ellison and Minnesota Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson are “hunting buddies,” and posed the question: “Does that mean Muslim refugees coming to western Minnesota?”
Minnesota’s newly elected Republican Party chair, Jennifer Carnahan, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the person responsible for the post “resigned immediately.” She decline to identify the individual.
“I don’t condone that behavior,” she said, according to WCCO-TV. “It was repugnant behavior that is not representative of our party or our values.”
Ken Martin, the state’s Democratic Party chair, applauded Carnahan for acting quickly and noted a surge in “threatening behavior and fear mongering” since President Donald Trump’s election, WCCO-TV reported.
Ellison, who serves as deputy chair of the National Democratic Party, tweeted his appreciation to Martin for “denouncing hate.”
SOURCE: WCCO-TV, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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