The Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association has landed in hot water after sharing a now-deleted meme on its Facebook page, that portrays four Democratic congresswomen - Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib - as “The Jihad Squad”, with taglines stating that “political jihad is their game” and that “if you don’t agree with their socialist ideology you’re racist”.
The meme’s name seems to be a reference to “the squad”, as the ladies are informally known.
According to the media outlet, the meme, which appears to be a doctored poster for the 2013 movie “Gangster Squad”, was shared by the group early on 20 July but apparently got deleted sometime later.
Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association drawing criticism after this post. Cook County Democratic Party condemning it. @cookcodems @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/V4enIrCcMg
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) 21 июля 2019 г.
This situation, perhaps predictably, did not sit well with the Cook County Democratic Party, which slammed the post and called for the people responsible to apologize.
Cook County Democratic Party denounces the post and calls for an apology. It also calls for the post to be taken down which has already been done pic.twitter.com/ga0zqnucrN
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) 21 июля 2019 г.
"The post perpetuates the recent attacks by President Trump, promoting lies and racism to alienate immigrants, women, and people of color. This language of hatred and bigotry has no room in our society and has dangerous consequences", the party spokesman told the media outlet.
Mark Shaw the head of the Illinois Republican County Chairmans Association now says it was an unauthorized post and he is denouncing it. pic.twitter.com/KfGOAvysjN
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) 21 июля 2019 г.
The post was also denounced by the Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association as well, with the group’s head Mark Shaw claiming that the post was unauthorized, while Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider said in a statement that he “strongly” condemns “evoking race or religion as the basis for political disagreement”.
"The recent social media post coming from the IRCCA does not reflect my values or the Illinois Republican Party’s values. Bigoted rhetoric greatly distracts from legitimate and important policy debates and further divides our nation", Schneider declared.
The meme gaffe also didn’t seem to impress many social media users who were quick to condemn those responsible for the move.
Shameless act by the Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association.
— Joe Moss (@joemnc40) 22 июля 2019 г.
Holy fk. Every single person involved with this should be fired, and banned from anything associated with politics for the rest of their lives. They should also be added to the FBI watchlist for domestic terrorism. This is a whole new level of vile racism.
— 💥 Tank Girl 💥 (@puhpuhpuhpow) 22 июля 2019 г.
The author of the pic is irrelevant. It could have been a teen in her mom's basement. The people with power and platform who reproduce it are the on who should be held accountable.
— Jonas Perez (@JonasPerez001) 21 июля 2019 г.
News of this development come amid the ongoing spat between “the squad” and US President Donald Trump who allegedly suggested that they should return to their "totally broken and crime infested" countries if they are unhappy with how the US is run.
In return, “the squad” declared that it is time to impeach the president over his actions and statements, accusing him of promoting the "agenda of white nationalists".
