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Don Spencer on Islamophobic Candidate for Republican Party Chair: “That’s Our Guy.”

2.25.2021

An explosive new report from The Frontier detailed how Don Spencer, the president of OK2A, is supporting an Islamophobic candidate for state Republican Party chairman. 

“Birds of a feather flock together, so it’s no surprise that gun extremists like Don Spencer are buddy-buddy with hateful, Islamophobic extremists like John Bennett,” said Kay Malan, a volunteer with the Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Republicans should disavow these extremists and take back the reins of government instead of allowing them to hijack their agenda and ram through their radical proposals.”

From the report:

“John Bennett, a United States Marine who served in the House of Representatives from 2011-2019, famously called Islam “a cancer that needs to be cut out” of America in 2014. Later that year he told a Tea Party group of supporters at a meeting that there’s “no difference between moderate Islam and extreme Islam.”



“Bennett has also run afoul of other groups as well. He posted a news story about Hillary Clinton on his Facebook account in 2016 and added “2 words … firing squad.” In 2017, as a debate was ongoing about potentially raising Oklahoma’s Gross Production Tax on the oil and gas industry, Bennett called state agencies who supported the increase “terrorists.”



“As soon as we heard that (Bennett was running) for party chair, we were pretty convinced that’s our guy,” said Don Spencer, the president of OK2A.” 


Despite this, Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma continue to embrace Don Spencer and OK2A’s takeover of the legislative agenda. Although public testimony is not allowed in Oklahoma, Spencer was allowed to answer questions that Republican representatives were not able to in committee hearings. And in emails to supporters, Spencer included “Bill Request By OK2A” as the first element of the legislative process.

Statistics about gun violence in Oklahoma are available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Navigator – which shows how Oklahoma gun laws compare to those of other states – is available hereIf you have questions, or to request an interview with a volunteer from Oklahoma Moms Demand Action, please don’t hesitate to reach out.