By Andy O’Brien
Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles has been under fire over his social media campaign accusing state Rep. Deqa Dhalac of being disloyal to America.
In a series of about 30 videos and posts on Facebook over a two-week span, Charles accused Dhalac of being a “radical Somalia-first” lawmaker and depicted the two-term legislator in an AI-generated cartoon putting up the Somali flag and disposing of the American flag in the garbage at the Maine State House. Charles also posted a video of himself delivering an online petition to the House Democratic office at the State House in Augusta demanding that Dhalac apologize or resign for supposedly prioritizing “allegiance to Somalia over her sworn duty and commitment to represent Mainers and uphold American interest.”
Charles’ campaign against Dhalac is based on a 2022 ABC News interview with Dhalac, an edited version of which was posted by “End Wokeness,” an account on X connected to white supremacist conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec. In the interview, Dhalac was asked how people in Somalia reacted to her becoming the first Somali-American mayor in the U.S.
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“They are asking what can we do back home in Somalia, how we can change policies, how can the politics in Somalia resonate what we have in the United States — the democracy we have — how can you help us, you know, be a better country and build back what we used to have a long time ago,” she said. “So hopefully we will be able to help our country, our former country, Somalia, and show what we can do here and that it can also be built into other countries.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security retweeted the edited video with the caption “Pause,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s policy to end refugee resettlement in the U.S. The video prompted a flood of violently anti-Muslim and anti-Somali comments, including from U.S. representative Randy Fine (FL-06), who called for Dhalac’s deportation.
Charles’ smear campaign has drawn sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle. Republican Rep. Amy Arata (New Gloucester) criticized Charles for inciting violence against her Democratic colleague.
“Are you concerned at all about the death threats against Rep. Dhalac that have been posted on your FB page?” she commented on one of Charles’ posts. She later told the Portland Press Herald, “It’s good to let people know what’s happening in Maine and what legislators are doing or saying, but the way he is communicating that is very inflammatory. I saw some very concerning comments on his posts regarding shooting or hanging people. And that should have been his clue he needs to stop.”
Arata added that she did not think it was “mature or fitting of someone who wants to be governor, especially in light of what happened to those legislators in Minnesota” — a reference to the fatal shooting of a Minnesota legislator and the wounding of another in June allegedly by a right-wing gunman. So far, Arata is the only elected Republican who has publicly criticized Charles for his posts.
In a joint statement, Maine House Democratic leaders — House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford), Majority Leader Matt Moonen (D-Portland) and Assistant Majority Leader Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) — stated that they “strongly condemn these racist and xenophobic attacks.”
“There is no place in Maine for disgusting smear campaigns. We stand firmly with Representative Deqa Dhalac, who is a dedicated, considerate, compassionate, and inspiring Maine leader,” the three Democratic leaders wrote. “She works every day to make our state a better place for all of us. Any person who pursues public office should dedicate themselves to doing the same, instead of sowing hatred in a desperate effort to get attention.”
Dhalac did not return a request for comment. In response to the criticism on social media, Charles has been defiant, stating that he “will not back down.” Charles, an attorney and former assistant secretary of state at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, has positioned himself in the Republican gubernatorial primary as fiercely anti-immigrant. In a recent Facebook post, Charles has proposed building a Maine version of the Trump administration’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility, to detain immigrants before they are deported.
“Instead of giving them luxury housing and EBT cards,” Charles said in a July 3 videoposted on Facebook, “we need to be putting them in our own version of Alligator Alcatraz until they can be properly deported.”
