Muslim congressman rips Newt Gingrich's Muslim deportation proposal as 'pandering' and 'really sad'

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) slammed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Morning Joe for his response to the attack in Nice, France.

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 15 July 2016

After playing a clip of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich responding to the attack in Nice, France, by calling for the monitoring of U.S. mosques and the deportation of Muslims who believe in sharia law, Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski turned the microphone over to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). "He [knows] better," said Ellison, one of two Muslim members of Congress. "That's the sad thing about Newt Gingrich. He's a very smart man. It's just calculating, pandering, and it's really sad."

Moreover, Ellison said, Gingrich's remarks about sharia law show a lack of knowledge about the Islamic faith. "Fasting [during] Ramadan is sharia, by the way," Ellison said. "So that's the problem with what Newt Gingrich is saying. He is talking about violent attacks on innocent people. That is what we all must condemn. That is what is unacceptable, and we have to engage everyone to stop this kind of thing. That means whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jew, whatever you are, we have to confront it together."