United States President-elect Donald Trump is encouraging a Florida legislator who celebrated the killing of an American citizen by the Israeli army to run for Congress.
Trump mentioned in a social media publish on Sunday that if State Senator Randy Positive decides to hunt a congressional seat in Florida, the state lawmaker would have his “Full and Complete Endorsement”.
Positive, 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 army within the occupied West Financial institution.
“Throw rocks, get shot. One much less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway,” Positive wrote in a social media publish 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.
Positive’s publish – which X (previously Twitter) discovered to be in violation of its violent speech coverage – is a part of a protracted record of inflammatory, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic feedback by the state legislator.
“Positive is a pal to nobody besides fascism,” Rasha Mubarak, a Palestinian-American activist from Florida, instructed Al Jazeera.
“Trump’s endorsement indicators a deepening alignment with the violent, fascist components throughout the capitalist class, whose pursuits are served by sowing division and perpetuating the dominance of imperialism.”
Positive usually proclaims that the US has a “Muslim downside”. In 2021, when instructed by a social media consumer that Palestinians have been being pressured out of their properties by Israel, he responded with: “#BlowThemUp”.
In accordance with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), he additionally despatched a personal message to a Florida resident saying: “Go blow your self up!”
Two years earlier, Positive referred to Jews who assist Palestinian rights as “Judenrat” – Nazi collaborators.
Final 12 months, Positive argued that worry of Muslims is justified.
“Whereas many Muslims are usually not terrorists, they’re the radicals, not the mainstream,” he wrote in a publish on X. “Now could be the time to talk reality, not bathe in political correctness that can kill us.”
Positive’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 Positive, together with over his latest feedback on Eygi’s killing.
“We wrestle to think about one other time in fashionable American historical past when an elected official overtly celebrated the homicide of an American by a international authorities and inspired extra such killing,” CAIR’s deputy government director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, mentioned in Might.
“Randy Positive has made it clear the place his priorities lie, and it isn’t 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 international army, Trump described Positive 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.
Positive, 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 might be the respect of my life to be certainly 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 commonly unfold anti-Muslim rhetoric, together with saying that the Quran, Islam’s holy ebook, teaches a “very adverse vibe” and proclaiming that “Islam hates us”.
He additionally imposed a travel ban on a number of Muslim-majority international locations 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 convey “peace” to the Center East.
Trump’s endorsement of Positive in addition to a few of his staunchly pro-Israel cupboard picks highlights the depth of his alliance with far-right forces.
