In response to backlash over her recitation of a Muslim prayer in the Iowa Senate back in 2021, Iowa Democratic House candidate and Lutheran pastor Sara Trone Garriott reflected on how the Sept. 11 attacks heightened her understanding of “anti-Muslim bigotry” and the “harm” it inflicted.
Tron Garriott, who is challenging Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, wore two face masks during the event. read Prayers written by Muslim voters were shared on the floor of the Iowa State Senate in 2021.
At the time, Tron Garriott stood by her decision to share the prayer, noting, “In the Senate, every prayer was a Christian prayer. We really needed diversity because that’s our community. The Des Moines metro is very religiously diverse.”
According to a 2024 survey, both Iowa and the Des Moines area have a Muslim population of less than 1%.
In light of the criticism, Tron Garriott published an editorial titled “Why I Shared Muslim Prayers in the Iowa State Senate,” stating that Christian perspectives were “overwhelmingly represented” in that chamber and asserting her prayer aimed to showcase religious diversity.
After the prayer, she reported receiving a message branding Islam as a “violent religion” and referencing “Sharia law,” asserting that the U.S. is a “Judeo-Christian country” where Muslim prayers don’t belong.
She mentioned that pursuing a Master’s degree in divinity at Harvard shortly after the September 11 attacks influenced her viewpoint.
“The day before I began my Master of Divinity degree at Harvard was September 11, 2001,” Tron Garriott notes. “Religiously diverse campuses were more aware of the rise in anti-Muslim bias and its harm.”
Interestingly, her editorial doesn’t reflect on the lives lost during the Sept. 11 attacks.
Tron Garriott emphasized that reciting the prayer was a move to uplift “minority” voices.
“Because of this situation, I am actively seeking to include the voices of those who are underrepresented in power and numbers,” she commented. “We cannot work together for the benefit of Iowans when some people are left behind, when bias leaves some people without a voice, and when rhetoric that incites violence is left unchecked.”
She concluded with a statement that “no one voice should dominate any aspect of what happens in this chamber,” asserting that if prayer is permissible in the Capitol, “that opportunity should be open to everyone.”
Zach Kraft, speaking for the Republican National Committee, criticized Tron Garriott during an interview, stating, “Sarah Tron Garriott should be ashamed of herself for not waking up enough about 9/11 and wagging her finger at America in complete disregard of the over 2,000 patriots who were tragically killed that day.” He further remarked on how low she would go to insult Iowa values.
This week, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released a video depicting Tron Garriott appearing to evade a question about the existence of God.
The NRCC indicated that this video might be the reason Tron Garriott’s campaign account was blocked.
In a speech at a Methodist Church in 2023, Sarah Tron Garriott labeled the intersection of “faith and political power” as “disgusting.” She criticized the mixing of American flags and Christian symbols, along with religious leaders endorsing political figures. She expressed feeling “very threatened” by the prevalent “religious and political violence” in public life.
Additionally, Tron Garriott criticized Iowa’s leadership for being “mostly white, mostly Christian, and mostly older men,” and dismissed private Christian schools as “segregated academies” contributing to “white enclaves.”
During the same 2023 statement, she connected what she termed “Christian nationalism” to “white patriarchy,” suggesting that evangelist Billy Graham “modeled exactly this” through his depiction of “white Christian masculinity.”
Tron Garriott also joined a discussion on Tuesday with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a member of President Donald Trump’s “incendiary six” Democrats, discussing the illegality of encouraging military personnel to resist “unlawful orders” at Des Moines Medical City Hall.
Earlier that day, potential 2028 presidential candidate Elissa Slotkin held a separate lunch for a focus group with five Trump supporters, one of whom claimed she was offered $200 to attend, along with lunch, and later realized that Slotkin was guiding the conversation.
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