Many public officials got onboard with President Donald Trump after his surprising victory Nov. 8, but few did so as energetically as Josh Mandel.
The second-term Republican state treasurer has been a prolific Twitter user for a long time, but after the election, he began lashing out fast and furious at “radical Islamic terrorism” and “sanctuary cities.” Both topics are frequently mentioned by Trump in public statements and social media.
Mandel’s personal Twitter account, which is not a taxpayer-funded official state account, is a vehicle for Mandel’s personal and political opinions. He announced his second bid for the U.S. Senate online on Dec. 7. He lost round one to incumbent Sherrod Brown in 2012.
A look at Mandel’s Twitter feed from Nov. 9 through last week shows that of more than 250 postings, nearly half concerned either anti-Islamic terrorism (about 70) or sanctuary cities (more than 50). In three months prior to the election, from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7, Mandel posted no comments about Islamic terrorism or sanctuary cities that show up on his Twitter account.
One of Mandel’s many terrorism tweets came March 23 after the attack near Britain’s Parliament building in London in which three people and the attacker were killed and 40 others were injured.
“Don’t need to know attacker’s identity to know he was inspired by Islamic ideology. Clear pattern OSU, Orlando, Paris, London, list goes on.”
The topic that Mandel has posted about most often in recent months is Ohiocheckbook.com, the system his office created to track public spending by the state, counties, cities, townships and school districts. He tweeted more than 75 times about Ohiocheckbook.com after the election, compared with more than 50 before Nov. 8.
Mandel first showed his reaction to Muslims in his 2010 campaign for treasurer vs. Democratic incumbent Kevin Boyce. Mandel accused Boyce of cronyism with employees in his office, including top assistant Amer Ahmad.
The Republican’s blog accused Ahmad of awarding contracts to “Islamic extremist friends,” adding, “Ohio state jobs openings only announced at a terror-tied mosque? Not quite sure how that is legal.”
After reading Mandel’s blog post, Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Muslim civil-rights and advocacy organization Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that, at the least, it included “some type of religious bias.”
Mandel denies a connection between his increased social-media activity and Trump. He said he has long been focused on “combating radical Islam terrorism,” but he acknowledged that his emphasis ramped up after a terrorist attack at Ohio State University on Nov. 28.
“It was the attack at Ohio State that really fired me up to escalate my voice and leadership against radical Islam,” Mandel said. “That attack hit home.”
Many people took to Twitter to condemn Mandel for a stereotypical rush to judgment, but a spokesman said Mandel was using his instincts as a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq.
Mandel spoke at a Cincinnati event with Trump days after the OSU attack by Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, a Somali immigrant who injured 13 people before he was shot and killed by a university police officer.
“We have certain leaders in this country who are afraid to call out radical Islamic terror, even when it is happening in our backyard.” Mandel said.
“Crazy liberals” want to make Columbus a sanctuary city, he said. “Over my dead body.”
Mandel, who is Jewish, said he saw terrorism firsthand in Iraq after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I believe this is the main security threat of our generation. There are radical Muslims throughout the world who are teaching their children that it’s an honor to kill Americans, Christians, Jews and other Muslims in the name of Allah.”
Mandel said his thinking has been influenced by incidents in the United States and other countries involving “military-age Muslim men who’ve been radicalized and inspired by Sharia law ... It’s a disturbing pattern.”
Sharia law is Islamic religious law formed, in part by the Quran, the central scripture of Islam.
Mandel said he finds sections of Sharia law that deal with the subjugation and abuse of women “vile and offensive.”
He has been particularly critical of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which federal agencies, in court documents, have linked to terrorism as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Jennifer Nimer, executive director of CAIR Ohio, said Mandel’s criticisms “have no legitimacy, no actual facts. He’s just trying to scare people.”
“It’s very unfortunate because it’s part of the president’s current rhetoric. Mandel jumped on the bandwagon.”
Nimer denied Mandel’s accusation that CAIR is a dangerous organization.
“Our organization has served food at the YMCA Family Center every week for 14 years,” she said. “I don’t think they would let us do that if we were dangerous.”
Patrick Poole, a central Ohio-based counterterrorism analyst cited by the Mandel team, said Mandel is correct in being wary of the potential for terrorism.
Since returning to Ohio after being away for 10 years, Poole said, he has been surprised to see a “succession of incidents and arrests” involving terrorism, including the OSU attack and a knife assault at the Nazareth Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant (an attack that authorities have declined to label terrorism).
“Columbus has acute issues in this area that have gone unacknowledged,” Poole said.
“My concern is there’s a bill coming due,” he said. “If we talk about the problem in a reasonable and rational manner, we might be able to make some headway.”
Mandel’s taxpayer-funded staff in the treasurer’s office provided The Dispatch with extensive research and background information on Islamic terrorism and related subjects. Mandel said the work is part of protecting Ohio taxpayer investments.