Disgusted. Embarrassed. Disappointed.
These were among the words many used to describe their reaction this week to an effort by some Republicans to take “our party back” and remove a top Tarrant County Republican official because he’s Muslim.
“Why I left the Republican Party,” Kay Porter tweeted. “Embarrassing.”
Tuesday, the Star-Telegram reported that posts on social media — and requests sent directly to Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Darl Easton — called for Dr. Shahid Shafi, a Southlake councilman, to be removed from the post of vice chairman of the local Republican Party.
“Dr. Shafi is a practicing. Mosque-attending muslim who claims not to follow sharia law or know what it is,” Republican Sara Legvold wrote on the Protect Texas Facebook page in calling for Shafi’s removal. “As a practicing muslim that is an overt falsehood. Sharia law is anathema to our Constitution because Islam recognizes no other law but shariah.
“As the most conservative county in the nation, this is a demoralizing blow to the conservative rank and file of the Republican Party across the nation and in Texas.”
Easton — who took office earlier this summer and personally appointed Shafi — was quick to speak against the effort, calling it disgusting and embarrassing. He has received emails and phone calls from those supporting Shafi.
A formal request to remove Shafi from the party post could come up at an executive committee meeting in September or perhaps later in the year.
“He will be the vice chair as long as I’m in this position,” Easton said Wednesday.
Republican reaction
Legvold shared stories online by the Star-Telegram, which was the first to write about her request to remove Shafi from office, and other publications, noting “I’m in the news!” and “another rag made me their news this afternoon.”
Categories: The Muslim Times