Via Adam Serwer, New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie delivered some much-needed real talk on Islamophobia on Wednesday. For months, he’s been taking heat from conservative groups over his appointment of a Muslim, Sohail Mohammed, to the state superior court (here‘s Pamela Geller’s characteristically calm reaction). With no factual evidence to support their claims, many conservatives fear that Muslims are stealthily forcing a radical strain of Islamic Shariah law on unsuspecting Americans—and Mohammed’s appointment, in such a key position, would no doubt speed up the process.
But Christie, who has been known to speak his mind from time to time, has had enough of it:
Shariah law has nothing to do with this at all. It’s crazy. It’s crazy. The guy’s an American citizen who has been an admitted lawyer to practice in the state of New Jersey, swearing an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey, the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and the Constitution of the United States of America…this shariah law business is crap. It’s just crazy. And I’m tired of dealing with the crazies. It’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious backround.
Here’s the video:
