For a man who’s running to be the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp seems unwilling to acknowledge that Georgians represent people of all colors, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds. In addition to his massive voter suppression tactics that almost exclusively impact voters of color, Kemp is also running a campaign that specifically demonizes and targets immigrants—and he makes no distinction between those in the country with legal authorization (like DACA recipients) and those without. In last week’s gubernatorial debate, when asked if DACA recipients should be eligible for in-state tuition in Georgia, he specifically called them “illegals” and said he doesn’t believe in taking care of people who are not “our own.”
But it’s not just voters of color and immigrants that Kemp doesn’t care about. It has also come to light that earlier this month during a campaign event at Wild Wing Cafe in Augusta, Georgia, Kemp stopped to take a photo with James Stachowiak. Stachowiak is a white nationalist and is well-known around the political scene in Georgia. This is the very shirt he was wearing when he met Kemp. It reads: “Allah is not God and Muhammad is not his prophet.” The back of the T-shirt says: “Islam is of the devil.”
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A nice little photo from Kemp’s stops on the campaign trail.
In 2016, Stachowiak held an anti-Islam rally outside of the Georgia capitol. Two months later, he stood outside of the Islamic Society of Augusta where he yelled obscenities, desecrated the Quran, and threatened violence against Muslims. Just a few months ago, he was caught on video at a Stacey Abrams event harassing black female veterans and threatening violence. He’s also the very same man who has posted videos online urging that black people be shot on sight and threatening members of Black Lives Matter.
On Friday, Kemp’s campaign refused to apologize for the photo by saying that Kemp didn’t what know was on Stachowiak’s shirt, that he takes hundreds of pictures with supporters and can’t be held responsible for their beliefs. But even if that’s true, Stachowiak was at an event with Kemp aides/staffers, supporters, patrons of a restaurant, and whomever took that picture. And not a single one of them thought to stop him or check his Islamophobia. Moreover, Kemp has yet to respond to the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who has called on him to apologize for the photo, denounce Stachowiak and meet with Georgia Muslims.
In a press release issued on Oct. 26, CAIR’s executive director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, said the following:
"Secretary Kemp should apologize for embracing a bigot who has defamed, harassed and threatened Georgia Muslims, as well as other communities. [...] "We invite Secretary Kemp to meet with us so that he can directly apologize for this incident, learn about Georgia Muslims, and build bridges of understanding with all Georgians.”
In a call with Daily Kos, Mitchell said that CAIR is a civil rights and advocacy organization that is non-partisan—and that there are even Georgia Muslims who know and support Kemp personally. So this isn’t about the election for CAIR. But it does speak directly to Kemp’s attitude toward Georgia Muslims and his lack of willingness to represent all the people in his state.
“Maybe [Kemp] didn’t see the back of Mr. Stachowiak’s shirt. Maybe he didn’t see the front of Mr. Stachowiak’s shirt. Maybe he didn’t know who Mr. Stachowiak was,” Mitchell said. “Assuming all that is true, he has now had almost four days to come out and say ‘I condemn anti-Muslim bigotry, I don’t want this man’s support and of course I’m happy to sit down with Georgia Muslims to build bridges and clear the air.’ He hasn’t done that yet. So, that is telling me everything I need to know at this point.”
Brian Kemp clearly doesn’t plan on being a governor that represents the diversity of Georgia’s population. And his participation in anti-Muslim bigotry is becoming a pattern. In fact, just today he tweeted out this:
While he continues to paint Democrat Stacey Abrams as too progressive and extreme for Georgia, it is Kemp who is the radical. For this, and many more reasons, he should not be the state’s next governor.
