Republican Party members in Tarrant County, Texas will be voting Thursday on a motion to remove their vice chairman, Dr. Shahid Shafi, who is Muslim, because he’s Muslim. Shafi (photo) is a trauma surgeon who also serves as a city council member.
Dorrie O’Brien is a precinct chair and by the look of her Facebook page, appears to be an anti-Islam extremist. She’s “leading the charge” to oust Shafi, The Texas Tribune reports. O’Brien has pushed for the vote to be by secret ballot, presumably to protect Republicans who don’t want to be seen as bigoted, despite being bigoted. According to her Facebook page, she has just won that key battle.
“We don’t think he’s suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because he’d be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County,” O’Brien wrote just before 6PM on New Year’s Eve in a post on Facebook. She added, “not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable in the U.S., in Tarrant County, and in the TCGOP.”
O’Brien also claims “there are big questions surrounding exactly where Dr. Shafi’s loyalties lie, vis a vis Democrat and Republican policies.”
In a more recent Facebook post, dated Wednesday O’Brien mocks Dr. Shafi as “the Islamic Gandhi” while labeling him as “not a suitable person” to serve as vice chair. She tells her supporters voting Shafi out is “doing your civic duty.” And she says their opponents are “demeaning you by saying you’re a bigot. You’re a hater. I know you’re not. You know you’re not.”
The Texas Tribune notes that “several prominent Texas Republicans have rallied behind Shafi,” including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Here’s Dr. Shafi with Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott in 2017:
Image, top, via Facebook