Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde’s vile attack on Va. state senator crossed a line
On May 15, Georgia U.S. Congressman Andrew Clyde, R-District 9, posted a vile, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim attack on his X social media account targeting Virginia state Sen. Saddam Salim, D-District 37.
Rhetoric such as Clyde’s is never harmless; it perpetuates violence, scapegoats entire communities and is antithetical to the core principles of our democracy.
Sadly, in recent days, we have witnessed the harm of such anti-Muslim rhetoric as extremist gunmen terrorized congregants and killed a security guard and two other attendees at a mosque in San Diego, coming horrifically close to the toddlers attending preschool in the building.
Rep. Clyde is not a constitutional attorney. If he were, he might know that citizenship in the United States is not treated as conditional based on partisan politics. We are allowed to disagree with one another on matters of policy without facing threats of deportation.
Virginia voters care deeply about firearms safety
Rep. Clyde does not represent the people of Virginia, nor does he speak for the nearly 41,000 Virginians in the district who elected Sen. Salim, securing his 2023 victory by almost 70% of the vote.
Salim ran a campaign heavily focused on gun violence prevention and on the commonsense gun safety measures supported by the overwhelming number of Virginians. His constituents elected him to deliver on these life-saving policies, and he has.
Unlike Salim’s track record of actually representing his constituents and all Virginians, Clyde’s only success is his total adherence to President Donald Trump. Clyde’s rural Georgia constituents, just like the rural Virginians I am fighting for as lieutenant governor, face devastating losses to healthcare access and services because of sweeping Medicaid cuts. His rural constituents are hurting, just as Virginians are, because of rising fuel costs, higher prices at grocery stores, and economic uncertainties triggered by Trump-led chaos. Georgians, just like Virginians, deserve better than the extremists who represent them in a failing Congress.
Why do I care what Clyde has to say about one Virginia state senator? I know that Clyde would never have made such racist and bigoted comments about the other state senator who was the actual author of the law (Senate Bill 749) that finally puts basic regulations around deadly assault weapons in Virginia.
That lawmaker, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-District 11, is also a current member of the Virginia Senate; he has had a long and distinguished career in Virginia public service and has twice been the Democratic nominee for statewide offices. Like Salim, he too has been elected, and repeatedly so, by Virginians who know and appreciate his stand on commonsense regulations on weapons. Deeds was born in Richmond, Virginia; he is neither an immigrant nor a Muslim. I would ask Clyde if he would belligerently declare that this other champion of gun safety subscribes to beliefs that are “incompatible with our Constitution.” I suspect not.
Before I was a Virginian, I was a Georgian
I care about what Rep. Clyde has to say because — before I was a Virginian — I was a Georgian. I am the daughter of an immigrant who came from Pakistan, earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina and had a distinguished 30-year career teaching political science at Georgia Southern. My father taught classes in American government, the U.S. Constitution, and much more.
I care about what Rep. Clyde has to say because his efforts to target this particular Virginia state senator harms all Georgians, my fellow Virginians, and our values as Americans. Clyde’s ugly rhetoric attempts to divide us and to scapegoat hundreds of millions of immigrants who are devoted to America and raising their children to be proud of both their heritage and this country — just as my parents raised me.
I grew up in Statesboro, attended Georgia Southern University, and graduated from Emory University with my Ph.D. in American literature. I know that Clyde does not represent the values of the Georgia I still refer to as my first home, nor does he reflect the compassion and goodness of those I call dear friends in the Peach State. Virginia is well-represented by its diverse and dedicated elected officials in state government. I hope that the Georgians currently represented by Clyde will be able to say the same following this year’s midterm elections.
Elected to office in November 2025, Ghazala Hashmi, Ph.D., serves as the 43rd lieutenant governor of Virginia. Prior to this election, Lt. Gov. Hashmi served six years in the state Senate representing Richmond and surrounding localities; she was the first Muslim to serve in the Virginia Senate. As lieutenant governor, she is the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in the nation.
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