Virginia Democratic leaders worked to undermine the state senate candidacy of a U.S. Marine because he is a Muslim, the Iraq combat veteran said in a Washington Post column over the weekend.
Atif Qarni says the party refused to back his candidacy, then recruited "a white Christian male" to challenge him in the Democratic primary for a senate seat representing areas of Richmond.
"I was invited to meet with the legislature’s key Democratic leaders and told I needed to drop out of the race because a Muslim would never win. I was told Republicans would use my religion against me and make my life miserable," Qarni wrote in a column.
"Several Democratic Party members also told me that my wife’s headscarf would be a problem with voters, as would my beard, which I maintain for vanity, not religious purposes," he recalled. "I was told Richmond is black and white, not brown."
According to Qarni, his Democratic opponent subtly attacked him based on his faith.
The same group of legislators who tried to persuade me to drop out of the race found a candidate they deemed better suited for the job. Not coincidentally, the candidate was a white Christian male.
When the campaign heated up, I was supported by a coalition of "non-establishment" Democrats, while my opponent was supported by the "establishment." I raised several ethical concerns about my opponent’s response to a whistleblower complaint. The rebuttal from my opponent’s campaign: A mailer, a few days before the primary, that depicted me in a cartoonish fashion, with an angry expression and overgrown facial hair. My son’s reaction: "I can’t believe they made you look like a terrorist."
There is no greater insult to a Muslim American (especially a combat veteran of the Iraq war) than to depict him as a terrorist. I was disappointed with the state of affairs in my own party.