Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) issued a searing condemnation of California gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly on Thursday, asserting that the tea party-backed Republican has "no place" in the GOP after claiming his rival has ties to fundamentalist Islamic law.
Earlier this week, Donnelly, a member of the California state Assembly and a former minuteman, linked GOP opponent Neel Kashkari to Sharia law.
The Sacramento Bee offers details on the accusation:
The exchange came after Donnelly's gubernatorial campaign this week included on its Facebook page a link to a program for an "Islamic Finance 101" seminar at the U.S. Treasury Department in 2008, when Kashkari was a senior Treasury official. Kashkari was listed as providing opening remarks for the seminar, the purpose of which was described as helping 'inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry."
Accompanying the link was the comment, "Given the recent stories and protests around the outrage of the discriminatory nature of Sharia law, we're horrified that Kashkari would support Sharia anything."
Donnelly later apologized for a tweet he admitted wasn't "100 percent accurate," but links posts remain on his Facebook page.
In his scathing statement, Issa condemned Donnelly's "hateful and disgusting rhetoric."
"There is no place in any public discussion for this type of hateful and ignorant garbage," Issa, who endorsed Kashkari last week, said. "As far as I'm concerned, this type of stupidity disqualifies Tim Donnelly from being fit to hold any office, anywhere. Donnelly is no longer a viable option for California voters."
Issa continued: "It is crap like this that gives Republicans a bad name and there is no place in the Republican Party or in this race for someone like Tim Donnelly."
Donnelly and Kashkari are among the Republicans competing in the increasingly contentious GOP primary, with the hopes of challenging incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in his reelection bid this fall. Brown, however, holds a strong lead over his potential Republican challengers. A Field Poll released last month found Brown carrying 57 percent of the vote, compared to Donnelly's 17 percent.
California's primary will be held June 3.
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