The Republican Party of Florida is ramping up attention on two radical far-left Democrats and their connection to an Islamic group supportive of Middle East terrorists.
On Friday, the party released a 66-second video on X about the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the backing the group has received from Democratic state Reps. Anna Eskamani of Orlando and Angie Nixon of Jacksonville.
In the text accompanying the video, the RPOF noted, “The Council on American-Islamic Relations is founded and funded by terrorists and supported by Florida Democrats, who rallied with them as Israel was denounced. Why would any elected official support them?”
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The video then shows a clip of a 2014 pro-Palestinian rally in Miami, where attendees chant, “We are Hamas!” and “We are jihad!”
The video also highlights a National Review article that notes CAIR was “founded by terrorists” and “funded by terrorists.”
The video then pointed out that CAIR is supported by Florida Democrats and included images of Eskamani and Nixon, who “marched with CAIR as Israel was denounced” for its response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, which murdered more than 1,200 Jews, including more than 30 Americans.
CAIR’s leadership is even too radical for the Biden White House.
As reported by The Hill last month, CAIR’s national Executive Director Niuhad Awad applauded Hamas’ violence on Oct. 7 in a speech. Awad said he was “happy to see” the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “breaking the siege” by striking at Israel.
Even the leftist White House objected to that.
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“We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement at the time. “The horrific, brutal terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 were, as President Biden said, ‘abhorrent’ and represent ‘unadulterated evil. The atrocities of that day shock the conscience, which is why we can never forget the pain Hamas has caused for so many innocent people.”
Quoting the National Review article, the RPOF clip noted that CAIR believes the Koran should be the “highest authority” in America and that Islam should be “the only accepted religion on Earth.”
“Why would any elected official rally with them?” the video asks as it ends.
As the Tampa Free Press reported last week, Eskamani and Nixon have resisted attempts to denounce anti-Semitism in the wake of the murders by Hamas.
They were two of the three Democrats who cast the only votes against a resolution, introduced by Democrats, Rep. Michael Gottlieb and Sen. Lori Berman, respectively, that defined anti-Semitism in Florida law.
In November, Nixon introduced a resolution that called for Israel to stop its offensive and implement a ceasefire in Gaza. She and Eskamani were the only two state lawmakers to support that.
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Eskamani also criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis for saying the U.S. should not accept any refugees from Gaza. “Not all of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist,” DeSantis said last fall.
DeSantis’ position was shared by multiple Arab nations, including Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, all of which refused to take Palestinians from Gaza.
Eskamani, however, blasted DeSantis, calling his rhetoric “incredibly dangerous” that would fuel violence toward “innocent Palestinians who are experiencing forced relocation and have been cut off from electricity and water.”
“This is a de-humanization tactic and we need to push back on it,” she argued.
Yet her comments raised a question about how “innocent” many of those Palestinians are.
According to Reuters, a poll taken last month by the Palestinian Center for Policy Survey and Research found that 72% of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “voiced satisfaction with the role of Hamas in the war” following Oct. 7.
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