South Dakota Republican Party Decides to Embrace Hate
“While Democrats work to bring South Dakotans of all backgrounds and religions together to create an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, it is troubling to see the South Dakota Republican Party embrace hate groups and anti-Muslim extremists. The choice of the Pennington County Republican Party to sponsor an event featuring disgraced ex-FBI agent and anti-Muslim extremist Dan Guandolo and Mr. Lederman’s choice to defend this action are just the latest examples of a disturbing trend of the South Dakota Republican Party embracing groups and speakers identified as hate groups or anti-Muslim extremists:
- In May, South Dakota Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Marty Jackley and South Dakota Secretary of State and congressional candidate Shantel Krebs reportedly attended an event sponsored by ACT for America, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) calls the ‘largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in America.’
- Also in May, the South Dakota Republican Party sponsored an event featuringDavid Horowitz, a man the SPLC termed ‘the godfather of the modern anti-Muslim movement.’
“While reasonable people can disagree about immigration and refugee policy, conspiracy theories and bigotry targeting a minority population should have no place in our political debates. Republicans should denounce this type of hateful rhetoric, not embrace it. Since Mr. Lederman refused to take the lead in denouncing hate, I call Republican elected officials and candidates like John Thune, Mike Rounds, Kristi Noem, Marty Jackley, Shantel Krebs, and Dusty Johnson to show some important leadership and make it clear that this kind of hate does not belong in their party or our state.”
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