Virginia Republican Suzanne Scholte is running an eyebrow-raising ad against Rep. Gerry Connolly, alleging that the Virginia Democrat is a known supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Would it shock you to learn that a search for further information on Connolly's alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties turns up links to a series of far-right websites? Search results are basically Free Beacon, Free Beacon, thebullelephant.com, Fox News (running a Free Beacon item), and so on. Which is pretty much how Republican candidates are sourcing their claims these days.
It is actually true that Connolly took issue with the United States supporting the new government of Egypt after a coup overthrew democratically elected, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi:
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) was sharply critical of the administration’s tacit support for Morsi’s overthrow, saying that the United States responded similarly after Chile’s coup in 1973, which led to an era of brutal repression and the disappearance of thousands of people.
“Am I to understand from that that the United States government is saying: Even if you win a free and democratic election, if you alienate people in your government, it’s okay to overthrow it?” Connolly asked Jones. “Because I can think of some American administrations that might qualify for that.”
Gee, what an unreasonable position to take. It's almost like democracy should be respected even when we don't love the outcome. Connolly was also
sharply critical when, under Morsi's leadership, Egypt convicted NGO workers over their pro-democracy activities. Then, too, the type of far-right sites Scholte seems to be sourcing her ads from like to try to tie Connolly to Hamas, which is interesting given his cosponsorship of
a Republican-introduced resolution condemning Hamas.
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It's pretty disgusting—though not at all shocking—watching a Republican try to conflate support for democracy with violent extremism.