United States President-elect Donald Trump is encouraging a Florida legislator who celebrated the killing of an American citizen by the Israeli navy to run for Congress.
Trump stated in a social media put up on Sunday that if State Senator Randy Wonderful decides to hunt a congressional seat in Florida, the state lawmaker would have his “Full and Complete Endorsement”.
Wonderful, who has a protracted historical past of anti-Muslim statements, sparked outrage earlier this 12 months when he appeared to reward the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US activist who was fatally shot by the Israeli navy within the occupied West Financial institution.
“Throw rocks, get shot. One much less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway,” Wonderful wrote in a social media put up in September.
Eygi was participating in a peaceable protest when she was shot. Each Israel and the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden have dismissed her killing as an accident.
Wonderful’s put up – which X (previously Twitter) discovered to be in violation of its violent speech coverage – is a part of a protracted checklist of inflammatory, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic feedback by the state legislator.
“Wonderful is a good friend to nobody besides fascism,” Rasha Mubarak, a Palestinian-American activist from Florida, advised Al Jazeera.
“Trump’s endorsement alerts a deepening alignment with the violent, fascist parts throughout the capitalist class, whose pursuits are served by sowing division and perpetuating the dominance of imperialism.”
Wonderful usually proclaims that the US has a “Muslim downside”. In 2021, when advised by a social media person that Palestinians have been being pressured out of their houses by Israel, he responded with: “#BlowThemUp”.
In keeping with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), he additionally despatched a non-public message to a Florida resident saying: “Go blow your self up!”
Two years earlier, Wonderful referred to Jews who help Palestinian rights as “Judenrat” – Nazi collaborators.
Final 12 months, Wonderful argued that worry of Muslims is justified.
“Whereas many Muslims will not be terrorists, they’re the radicals, not the mainstream,” he wrote in a put up on X. “Now’s the time to talk fact, not bathe in political correctness that may kill us.”
Wonderful’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to Al Jazeera’s response for remark.
Through the years, CAIR has known as on Florida lawmakers to censure and penalise Wonderful, together with over his latest feedback on Eygi’s killing.
“We battle to consider one other time in trendy American historical past when an elected official brazenly celebrated the homicide of an American by a overseas authorities and inspired extra such killing,” CAIR’s deputy govt director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, stated in Might.
“Randy Wonderful has made it clear the place his priorities lie, and it’s not with the American individuals. We urge the Florida Home of Representatives to censure him for this hateful, un-American rant.”
Regardless of celebrating the killing of an American girl by a overseas navy, Trump described Wonderful as an “America First Patriot”.
He known as on him to run for the seat of Congressman Mike Waltz, who will depart his seat to serve within the White Home as nationwide safety adviser.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will name for a particular election to fill the emptiness subsequent 12 months.
Wonderful, who beforehand served in Florida’s Home of Representatives and was lately elected to the state’s Senate, has not introduced his candidacy, however he welcomed Trump’s assertion.
“It will be the consideration of my life to be considered one of your footsoldiers,” he wrote, addressing the incoming president. “Your confidence is overwhelming and I’ll have information to share quickly!”
Trump himself has frequently unfold anti-Muslim rhetoric, together with saying that the Quran, Islam’s holy e-book, teaches a “very unfavorable vibe” and proclaiming that “Islam hates us”.
He additionally imposed a travel ban on a number of Muslim-majority nations throughout his first time period as president.
However this 12 months, the previous president softened his tone as he courted Arab and Muslim voters, promising to deliver “peace” to the Center East.
Trump’s endorsement of Wonderful in addition to a few of his staunchly pro-Israel cupboard picks highlights the depth of his alliance with far-right forces.