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An ordained Christian minister running for U.S. Congress in Iowa penned an opinion piece sharing how the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — carried out by radical Islamic terrorists — made her more "aware" of the "rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm."
Sarah Trone Garriott is one of three Democratic candidates vying for the battleground seat held by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.
Garriott, an Iowa state legislator and Lutheran minister, wrote the opinion piece for the Iowa Capital Dispatch in response to the "hateful messages" she received after she shared a prayer with Arabic words written by a Muslim woman on the statehouse floor in February 2021.
"They said horrible stereotypical things about my Muslim neighbors — Sharia law, hating freedom, violent religion," Garriott wrote. "There were others who made comments about the United States being a Judeo-Christian country and therefore Muslim prayers were not welcome. There were some attacks against me, as a Christian leader I was leading people astray, that I didn’t know what I was doing."
She said the pushback "convinced" her there is a greater need for "religious diversity."
Garriott revealed that she began her master's degree in theological studies at Harvard University a day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"On that religiously diverse campus, I was more aware of the rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm," Garriott wrote. "I am kind a biblical literalist, and when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, I took that to heart. I worked with my Muslim classmates to organize a meal to bring the community together during Ramadan."
Meanwhile, Nunn had "a different response" to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by joining the Air Force, according to Nunn's spokesperson, Mark Matava. During his service, he "flew more than a hundred combat missions to defend America."
"Sarah Trone Garriott has called Christianity 'threatening,' mocked parents for protecting their daughters, and accused Christian schools of being 'white enclaves,'" Matava said. "Now we learn that her response to the deadliest attack on American soil was to lecture Americans about bigotry without so much as mentioning the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11. Her contempt for Iowa and America is on full display."
Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy also criticized Garriott for not mentioning the thousands of American victims killed on 9/11.
"Radical woke warrior Sarah Trone Garriott’s main concern after the September 11th terror attacks was ‘anti-Muslim bigotry,’ and she made no mention of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost their lives that day," Cichy said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This stunning display of tone-deaf political pandering is just the latest example showing Trone Garriott is out of touch with Iowa values."
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft said she is "insulting Iowa values" by pandering to "coastal elite Democrat Party bosses."
"Sarah Trone Garriott should be ashamed for wagging her finger at America for not being woke enough about 9/11 and completely ignoring the more than 2,000 patriots tragically killed that day," Kraft said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy called Garriott's "tone-deaf political pandering."
Fox News Digital reported last month on a 2023 speech given by Garriott in which she criticized Christian displays at political rallies, calling it one of several "pretty uncomfortable ways that faith and political power have collided."
Fox News Digital reached out to Garriott for comment.
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