Texas Republicans Will Vote on Whether to Remove Muslim-American From GOP Position Because of His Religion

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-muslim-republicans-tarrant-county-shahid-shafi-1285867?utm_campaign=NewsweekFacebookSF&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3ORKNL8YF0q-o42kBkWYL-tRQCO_2w-Q3-l0zTUCCob6Z0Is9HmQufbOY

By Nicole Goodkind On 1/9/19 at 4:38 PM

As the House of Representatives welcomes its first two Muslim congresswomen, Texas Republicans will vote on Thursday over whether to remove Tarrant County Republican party vice-chair Shahid Shafi from his seat because he identifies as a Muslim-American.

The vote comes after some members of the county party put forth a motion to remove Shafi, a Republican trauma surgeon and Southlake City councilman, from his position due to his Islamic beliefs.

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Shafi, who told Newsweek he didn’t want comment until after the vote, explained to The Washington Post that he’s used to being discriminated against because of his faith. “This is, unfortunately, not the first time that people or my political opponents have tried to use my religion against me to distract the voters,” he said. “And unfortunately, I don’t think it will be the last, either.”

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“We’ve seen an unfortunate spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric and incidents in the Trump-era because he enables people,” said Hooper. “At some point, the Republicans have to police their own ranks. Will they be okay with somebody being ejected from their party solely on the basis of faith? If they’re okay with that, it says something about them. It’s un-American and it’s unjust.”

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