人兽性交

In the recording, Senator Neal Tapio said, 鈥淎nd then all that has to happen is that there will be one more terrorist attack between now and then and I will be the 鈥� just by the 鈥楾rump effect,鈥� I will be the candidate. That鈥檚 the way I look at it.鈥澛�

Tapio responded with a public Facebook rant in which he asserted that Islam at its core is responsible for Al-Qaeda and ISIS-associated attacks around the world, saying, 鈥淲here the hell do you think this hateful and deadly ideology comes from? Does it come simply by accident? Or from a few extremists who 鈥榤isinterpret鈥� the true Islam? Give me a break.鈥澛�

Tapio also disagreed with George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and 鈥渆ven the Pope that Islam is a 鈥榬eligion of peace,鈥� and that 鈥榯error has nothing to do with Islam.鈥欌�� He later went on to assert himself as an 鈥渆xpert鈥� in Islam, claiming, 鈥淚鈥檝e read the Koran twice.鈥澛�

Multiple screengrabs of his Facebook post also show his account 鈥渓iking鈥� several blatantly anti-Islam comments, including one that says 鈥淲hat many don鈥檛 realize is the Islam [sic] is not a religion, it is a theocracy.鈥澛�

Another comment, also liked by Tapio鈥檚 account, reads 鈥淚slam, and it鈥檚 [sic] tenets, present a clear and present danger to the way of life that so many have fought, been wounded, and died for. Telling the citizens of this country that Islam is a religion of peace, disgraces those who have given their all for the protection of country.鈥澛�

Tapio鈥檚 anti-Muslim vitriol is hardly a one-off for him. Earlier this year he gained media attention for attacking a delegation of multi-faith leaders visiting the South Dakota state legislature. Echoing the paranoid style of 1950s McCarthyite rhetoric, Tapio claimed, 鈥淚nterfaith dialogue is a part of a war, it鈥檚 a silent part, it鈥檚 a part of a way of taking away the Christian fabric of our nation.鈥澛�

His legislative activity has largely matched his colorful rhetoric. In 2018, Tapio was the prime sponsor of five legislative proposals, two of which were anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant:

• SB 200: a bill to 鈥渟uspend all direct or indirect resettlement of refugees and refuse to accept chain migration into South Dakota鈥� and聽
• SCR 13: a legislatively non-binding resolution asking the U.S Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to declare 鈥淪haria Law鈥� as 鈥渢he root cause of the global war on terrorism.鈥� In 2017, he was the prime sponsor of only one legislative proposal 鈥� another non-binding resolution commending President Donald Trump for 鈥渉is commitment to keeping the country safe from radical Islamic terrorism.鈥澛�

Both聽proposals failed to pass.聽

Also in 2017, Tapio issued a press release calling on political rival Shantel Krebs to state whether or not she agreed with Trump鈥檚 proposed 鈥淢uslim registry,鈥� and tacitly endorsed the proposal himself. (In response, Krebs affirmed that she did support the idea of a national Muslim registry.)

Tapio鈥檚 unguarded thoughts about terrorism and his congressional candidacy appear to be consistent with research on anti-Muslim hate in America. An empirical analysis by Dalia Mogahed, a polling expert and current research director for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, shows that spikes in anti-Muslim attitudes are associated with the run-up to election cycles. According to her analysis, this suggests that politicians鈥� exploitation of social fears, not simply violence committed in the name of Islam, is driving anti-Muslim attitudes.聽

In response to Tapio鈥檚 remarks, South Dakota Voices for 人兽性交, a local pro-pluralism advocacy organization, stated, 鈥淭apio鈥檚 statements expose him for what he is: a hateful fear monger who is less interested in protecting citizens and more interested in hateful rhetoric that he thinks will propel him into office.鈥�