In an email obtained by NBC News, a North Dakota Republican National Committee delegate on Friday called out fellow delegate Tamara Scott, the Chair of the “RNC Faith Advisory Board” and a close ally of Chairwoman Ronna Not-Romney McDaniel, over a private conversation they had in which Scott had questioned if Not-Romney’s rival in next week’s chair election, MAGA lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, was right for the job “because of Harmeet’s Sikh beliefs – she is not a Christian.”
“On Wednesday, December 28th I called Tamara Scott, Chair of the RNC Faith Advisory Board, because I had felt bad for having missed the weekly prayer calls in recent weeks and wanted to discuss them with her. When the subject of the RNC Chair race came up, Tamara told me she was backing Ronna McDaniel and I told her I was backing Harmeet Dhillon. What should have been a pleasant conversation among colleagues discussing the merits of each candidate then took a very ugly turn when Tamara told me that she and others at the RNC were ‘worried the gains made by the Faith Advisory Board would be in jeopardy should Harmeet Dhillon win the RNC Chair race.'”
“Shocked, I asked Tamara why she would feel that way, to which she responded, ‘because of Harmeet’s Sikh beliefs – she is not a Christian.’ I was shocked, disappointed, and frankly disgusted that someone was willing to use bigotry as a tactic to whip votes for their preferred candidate. Tamara is not only the Chair of our Faith Advisory Committee, she is also a member of Chairwoman McDaniel’s Whip Team and here she is telling me that Harmeet Dhillon is unqualified to lead the RNC due to her religious beliefs?” wrote North Dakota delegate Lori Hinz, pretending to be surprised there’s religious bigotry in the fucking party she’s no doubt been involved with for decades.
Is this what they call “virtue signaling” or is it just a play to buy sympathy votes for Dhillon among the delegates? Of course this email was going to leak, it was written for public consumption outside of the RNC and to knife Tamara Scott – and Ronna Not-Romney by extension. That Midwest-nice skullduggery alone could be a full volume, before we could even get to the unmistakable sense that taking issue with Dhillon being a Sikh is just a marginally less radioactive cover for that she’s too dark-skinned and foreign-looking to lead a party that champions “traditional American families,” for starters. Then there’s the suspiciously “woke” tone of aspersion and coopted language of “inclusivity” this is all written in, as if anyone – recipients included – would believe it to be sincere.
There’s something for everyone in this load of bullshit, so choose your own adventure.