Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a fiery freshman Tea Party-backed congressman, appeared irritated at a town hall meeting Monday, when a Muslim questioner asked him to note the passage in the Quran where it commands Muslims "to carry out attacks against Americans and innocent people." In his response to the man's defense of moderate Islam, West told him not to "try to blow sunshine up my butt."
In his explanation of his prior comments on the nature of the religion, West pointed to the Ft. Hood massacre, the attacks on 9/11 and his own personal experience as an Army colonel in Iraq as reasons
"Don't try to blow sunshine up my butt," he told the questioner, Nezar Hamze, Executive Director of the Council for American Islamic Relations, the Shark Tank blog reports.
Of course, West has never been shy about making controversial statements about Islam. The congressman most recently drew fire for referring to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) one of two Muslims in Congress, as someone who represents "the antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established."
In his response, West claimed that his criticism had nothing to do with Ellison's religion, but simply his continued support of the Council for American Islamic Relations, a group that West believes has ties to extremist groups.