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New Jersey State Senator-elect Edward Durr met with local Muslim community leaders in Sewell, New Jersey Wednesday evening following the surfacing of a now-deleted 2019 tweet from Durr that expressed Islamophobia.
Selaedin Maksut, Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations ??? New Jersey, said the conversation with Durr ???went very well.???
???To be honest, I think it went very well, we got exactly what we came for,??? Maksut told CNN. ???He committed to renouncing that hate speech and not engaging in it moving forward.???
Maksut was joined by local Muslim leaders when he met with Durr Wednesday evening. They shared stories of how it felt to grow up Muslim in America, and how Durr???s words have impacted them, said Maksut.
Maksut said Durr apologized sincerely and wrote out a statement committing to stand against Islamophobia and other forms of hate.
Durr told local reporters after the meeting that his discussion with local Muslim leaders was ???very open??? and said he believes progress was made.
???It???s very easy to hate somebody that you don???t know, but if you know them personally, and you talk to them, it???s very hard to hate them, don???t you think???? Durr said. ???As I reiterated to the group inside???I stand against Islamophobia and all forms of hate and I do commit to that. And I look forward to working with the Muslim community.???
Durr also said he was given a copy of the Quran and was seen holding the book when he spoke to reporters on-camera Wednesday evening.
Maksut said while the election took him by surprise, he now looks forward to working with Durr on legislation that impacts the Muslim community.
???Now we have a connection with him so we look forward to working with him on things that will impact the Muslim community,??? said Maksut. ???We???re going to hold him to that commitment.???
By Mirna Alsharif, CNN
Republican state senator’s win shocks political world — and himself 03:14
Washington (CNN)The Republican who defeated New Jersey’s state Senate president last week has “committed to renouncing” hate speech amid criticism of old tweets he posted expressing Islamophobia, a Muslim advocacy group in the state said Wednesday.
State Sen.-elect Ed Durr met with Muslim community leaders in the state on Wednesday, according to Selaedin Maksut, the executive director of the state’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who told CNN that the conversation with Durr “went very well.”
