Candidate's Muslim Faith Becomes Controversial Debate Question

VIRGINIA — A long-time local news anchor is facing criticism for asking the first Muslim ever elected to the Virginia General Assembly whether he could fairly represent all Virginians if elected lieutenant governor this fall.

Dave Lucas, a news anchor at WJLA, was one of the moderators at the first and only debate among the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. The debate was held at George Mason University in Fairfax.

Lucas directly asked Del. Sam Rasoul, one of six candidates, about his ability to represent all Virginians. "Can you assure Virginians, if you’re elected, you’ll represent all of them, regardless of faith or beliefs?” Lucas asked Rasoul.

The question was brought up by Lucas as a way to ask the candidates their views on political campaign financing.

The news anchor prefaced his question about whether Rasoul could represent all Virginians with this comment: “The Washington Post reported your fundraising effort is categorically leading because of some out-of-state donor connected to Muslim advocacy groups. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that was the case.”

A WJLA executive offered an apology on Wednesday. “During an important, relevant exchange related to campaign finance during the debate, our anchor, Dave Lucas, asked an inappropriate and disrespectful question to Delegate Sam Rasoul," WJLA Senior Vice President Bill Fanshawe wrote in an email to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group.

Earlier Wednesday, CAIR called on Virginia political leaders to “reaffirm the right of American Muslims to full civic participation” in response to the question posed to Rasoul.

Fanshawe told CAIR that the news station has reached out to Rasoul's campaign and "expressed our sincere apology for this question and for the impact of these words.”

At the debate, Rasoul did not push back against Lucas’s question. Among the other candidates onstage, only Xavier Warren appeared to address the implications of the question.

“Muslims, the Asian community and Black Lives Matter, you have a presence, you have an opportunity to get a good job and achieve your dreams here in Virginia,” Warren said, turning to Rasoul to add, “you and your family have my support.”

After the debate, though, Sean Perryman, another Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, said Lucas’s question was “wrong.”

“No other candidate was asked about their ability to serve all Virginians because of their faith,” Perryman wrote in a tweet.

Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, later tweeted her support for Perryman’s comment.

“We don’t ask about Christian donors, Jewish donors, etc.,” Swecker tweeted.

Swecker said it is appropriate to investigate donor funding but that “making it faith based is discriminatory and inexcusable.”

The party chairwoman said it was a “major fail” on the part of Lucas and that she “personally conveyed” to Lucas her opinion of his question.

The debate was sponsored by the Democratic Party of Virginia and George Mason University, with WJLA chosen as the broadcast partner. Lucas’s co-moderator was Jonathan Elias, a fellow news anchor at WJLA.

WJLA is owned by Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group, a conservative media company that owns the second-largest number of television stations in the United States.

The Democratic primary election for lieutenant governor, along with governor and attorney general, is Tuesday, June 8. Early voting in the primary election started in late April.

“We welcome this apology and thank WJLA for stepping up and taking appropriate action in response to this Islamophobic incident,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement Wednesday night. “All Americans should be able to engage in our nation’s political process without fear of being singled out based on their faith.”