Two Republican House members, Cindy Pugh of Chanhassen and Kathy Lohmer of Stillwater, discredited themselves earlier this year when they shared a Facebook post alleging that Muslims were trying to “infiltrate” Republican precinct caucuses.
Both Pugh and Lohmer told an editorial writer that their intention was to encourage caucus participation, and that they were not the original authors of the item they shared. “In no way did I endorse what was written,” Pugh said. Lohmer said she takes offense “by any accusations of racism based on a single Facebook post.”
In Pugh’s case, the January 2018 post was an echo of her 2012 post of a photo comparing Islamic women dressed in burqas to garbage bags. This year, Pugh praised her own precinct caucus for approving a resolution calling on the GOP to “minimize and eliminate the influence of Islam” within the party.
View the complete October 30 editorial on the Star Tribune website here.