US Senator Urged to Resign After ‘Racist’ Anti-Muslim Social Media Post
A coalition of faith and civil rights organizations, led by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on Friday for Feigenholtz to step down after a social media comment that they allege was Islamophobic.
The controversy began when Feigenholtz responded to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Mosab Hassan Yousef, a hawkish Islamophobe. Yousef’s post read, “Westerners who praise Islam are bootlickers. If they love Islam and Muslims, why don’t they move to an Islamic country and stick their heads in the dirt multiple times a day for enlightenment.”
In response, Feigenholtz commented, “MHY… you are one badass truth teller.”
The senator later deleted her reply, calling it a “mistake” and clarifying that she did not support the inflammatory statements within the original post, the Chicago Tribune reported on Friday.
At a news conference held at CAIR’s Chicago office, Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, expressed dissatisfaction with Feigenholtz’s apology.
Rehab labeled the apology as “insulting our intelligence” and called her comment “terrible, offensive and racist.”
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He was joined by leaders from groups like Jewish Voice for Peace Chicago and the Muslim Civic Coalition, who echoed the demand for her resignation. Rehab also described Yousef as “a professional Islamophobe.”
The senator’s comment has sparked responses from various public officials. State Reps. Lilian Jimenez of Chicago and Abdelnasser Rashid of Bridgeview attended CAIR’s press event, where they criticized Feigenholtz’s post without directly calling for her resignation. Jimenez, who has spoken out previously on issues of discrimination, said, “Words spur actions, and so today we are here again because of the words that were spoken.”
Feigenholtz, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chair of the Financial Institutions Committee, later issued a statement from her office clarifying her intentions. According to her office, she meant to respond to Yousef’s recent speech before the European Union Parliament, in which he criticized Hamas.
On Friday, Feigenholtz, who is Jewish, stated, “I made a mistake and, as a result, I shared a message I do not believe in. It was never my intention to reply to — let alone amplify — that individual’s inflammatory remarks.”
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Meanwhile, Senate President Don Harmon’s office did not comment on whether disciplinary action might be taken against Feigenholtz.
Earlier this week, Feigenholtz was among several Illinois officials, including Governor JB Pritzker, who called for the resignation of Rev. Mitchell Johnson from his role as Chicago Public Schools board president over alleged antisemitic social media posts.
Dilara Sayeed of the Muslim Civic Coalition referenced this at Friday’s conference, stating, “Our expectations must be consistent for all our public officials.”
Source: Agencies
