‘America run on hate’: Dem-turned-GOP Senate candidate bashes U.S. in resurfaced video

Image via Joe Kaufman.

Imtiaz Mohammad, a perennial candidate now running for the Florida Senate, doesn’t appear to care much for the country he hopes to serve in elected office.

Video footage Florida Politics acquired shows Mohammad, a Democrat-turned-Republican, expressing a less-than-charitable assessment of the United States.

“It’s a beautiful saying in America: ‘America run on Dunkin’ Donuts.’ America run on hate. That’s my statement. We run this country on hate,” he said.

“The media is the biggest problem in this country. And the American people are the most uneducated nation in the world.”

That notwithstanding, Mohammad — a 57-year-old Pakistani-American who became a U.S. citizen in 2015 — frequently asserts on social media that he is “proud to be an American.”

But he told Florida Politics by text, “I clearly stand by my statement.”

“Our communities hate each other, look around you, don’t you see rift among Jews, Muslims, Christians and immigrants? Our politicians use these rifts for their political gain. And divide our communities more,” he said. “We must fight hate to bring peace and love in our communities. We all are one nation. We must unite to fight hate from our society. Only way that can happen (is) when we fix our policies to ensure justice and equality for all.”

The video, uploaded to YouTube two years ago by GOP congressional candidate Joe Kaufman, says Mohammad made his comments Dec. 23, 2018, during a panel discussion of religion and politics at the Darul Uloom Institute and Islamic Training Center in Pembroke Pines.

Mohammad is the lone candidate competing this cycle against incumbent Democrat Jason Pizzo in Senate District 37. He filed to run in February and paid a $1,782 qualifying fee in May to make it onto the General Election ballot. But according to the Division of Elections, he’s never submitted a campaign finance report this year and received multiple notices for the violation.

He should know better. It’s hardly Mohammad’s first political rodeo. He ran for the House in 2018 and 2020 as a Democrat, scoring 21% and 35% in each attempt, respectively. He also filed paperwork to challenge former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch in 2020, but aborted the attempt before submitting any campaign finance information.

During those campaigns, Mohammad was an ardent backer of independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. He expressed similar support for members of the so-called “Squad,” including U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tliab.

He also appeared and spoke at campaign events for Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and ex-U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Joe Biden.

Sometime between then and now — at least by mid-2022 — Mohammad had a change of heart and switched his registration to Republican. In a Facebook post on June 29, 2022, he blasted his former party for supporting “homosexuality and same sex marriage.”

In a Feb. 10 post this year, Mohammad weighed in on the Israel-Gaza conflict, urging Muslims to support GOP candidates. Democrats, he said, have “failed to provide justice and humanitarian support for innocent people of Palestine, whereas they supported only Israel and ignored innocent people of Palestine.”

Mohammad added that Republicans will deliver a “peaceful solution for Palestine and Israel.” He did not offer examples of GOP foreign policy proposals that would effectuate that long-elusive aim.

He brought the issue up when Florida Politics contacted him Monday.

“Look what’s happening in GHAZA (sic). This issue is on (the) ballot, you (can) see the hate around you, and now it’s more due to (biased) policies, our youth getting involved and demanding justice,” he said. “Whereas we are one nation under one God. We must learn to live in peace and harmony. Our faith is our personal choice and (it) should not hurt our daily lives.”

In 2019, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Mohammad’s interest in running for public office came during a time of increasingly hostile rhetoric against Muslims from then-President Donald Trump’s administration.

He came to the U.S. in 1991 and worked several odd jobs to support his family — including a gig with Dunkin’ Donuts. Over time, he and his wife built a multisite salon business in Miramar.

Following the presidential debate last month, Mohammad took to Facebook to declare, “VOTE REPUBLICANS!!!! TRUMP WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT BY STOPPING WARS !!!!!!!”

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Editor’s note: This report was updated to include statements from Mohammad.