Scott Walker Ducks Question About Ted Cruz’s Plan To Police Muslims
BY
ALICE OLLSTEIN
APR 5, 2016 8:00 AM
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ANDY MANIS
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks during a campaign stop for Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Madison, Wis.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — The day before Wisconsin’s presidential primary, Republican Gov. Scott Walker hit the campaign trail with Sen. Ted Cruz, who he
recently endorsed. The two appeared together in stops across the state, where Walker heaped praise on Cruz as a “constitutional conservative” who will “challenge the status quo.”
But when ThinkProgress asked Walker if he supports one of Cruz’s key campaign promises — to patrol Muslim neighborhoods in the United States — he refused to answer.
Listen:
At a campaign stop with Cruz at an Italian market in Milwaukee on Monday afternoon, Walker would not answer whether he supported
Cruz’s call for singling out U.S. residents by their religion for
extra policing and surveillance.
“The three reasons I gave for supporting Ted Cruz are: one, he stands for the Constitution, which is really important for the state of Wisconsin in terms of shifting power back to the state and the people,” he said. “Secondly, I believe he’s going to take on some of the big government special interests in Washington, which is something we admire here. Third is a practical reason: out of all the candidates only two can run in the fall, and Ted Cruz is the only one who can win.”
When ThinkProgress tried asking again, telling Walker that Muslim residents in his own state
say they’re terrified by Cruz’s comments, he said only, “I don’t have any say over that” and “I gave you the three reasons I’m endorsing him.”
Just a week prior to endorsing Cruz, Walker had
sharply criticized Cruz’s proposal, saying that surveillance should be “not limited to certain neighborhoods or certain backgrounds.” Since endorsing, however, he has changed his tune.
Though just
one percent of Wisconsin’s voters identify as Muslim, a
2010 study found that Islam is the second-largest faith group in Wisconsin and 19 other states. Nearly 10,000 practicing Muslims live in the Milwaukee area alone, and nearly 60,000 call Wisconsin home. But members of this growing voting bloc say they feel
driven away from the Republican Party by the rhetoric and policy proposals of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, and those like Walker who support them.
Ahmed Quereshi, a native Wisconsinite and the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, told ThinkProgress that Gov. Walker hasn’t reached out to the Muslim community for more than a decade. He said the last time Walker visited the Islamic Society was when he was first running for Milwaukee County Executive in 2002. Since then, he has not only kept his distance, but has made statements Muslims say are inaccurate and offensive.
“He
said in August that there are only a handful of reasonable, moderate Muslims who don’t follow ISIS’ ideology, which was an outrageous statement,” said Quereshi.
After that remark, Quereshi and several other religious leaders in Wisconsin wrote a letter to Walker asking for a meeting with him or a high level staffer, but was told no one in the administration had time to meet with them. “He has not demonstrated any interest in meeting with the Muslim community in Wisconsin to address these kinds of issues,” he said, “so personally I’m not surprised he decided to endorse Ted Cruz.”
Muslim students at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee told ThinkProgress they wished their governor would reach out them more and not fall back on harmful stereotypes.
“Maybe he should start a listening session where he listens to people with different perspectives and actually understands,” senior Ameena Yusuf said.
Scott Walker Ducks Question About Ted Cruz’s Plan To Police Muslims