Ed Martin, the former chairman of the Missouri GOP who now runs Phyllis Schlafly’s group Eagle Forum, gave some interesting remarks about Mexicans and Muslims to a St. Louis area Tea Party rally over the weekend, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ed Martin, who ran for Missouri attorney general four years ago and now is the chief spokesman and ally to conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, said at a Tea Party rally in the St. Louis area Sunday:
“You’re not racist if you don’t like Mexicans. They’re from a nation. If you don’t think Muslims are vetted enough, because they blow things up, that’s not racist.”
Martin told the Post-Dispatch in a written statement that his comments regarding Mexicans were aimed only at illegal immigrants.
Regarding his comments on Muslims, he said: “My point is that it is not racist to make clear that some Muslims should not be coming to America. They are not a race but a religion and there are white, black and brown Muslims and we need to make sure that the ones who wish us ill are not allowed to enter America.”
Martin has been at the center of an ugly internal feud at Eagle Forum. Longtime board members, including some of Schlafly’s own children, have objected to her choice of Martin to replace her at the group she founded and to her endorsement of Donald Trump for president.
Former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson will be headlining Eagle Forum’s upcoming national conference in St. Louis.
