David Crowley has revealed that he blew off a major Muslim forum because his pipes were about to burst.
“You recently skipped a forum hosted by the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance. Why did you skip this event?” The Milwaukee Courier’s Drake Bentley asked Crowley.
“Now, I wasn’t able to make that particular forum because I was under the weather. And plus, quite frankly, I thought my basement was getting ready to flood because we had some pipe issues. And so that’s the reason why I wasn’t there,” Crowley answered. He also reiterated his support for the Muslim community. You can read his full comments here.
That’s not the story that organizers have publicly told.
On July 2, Wajiha Akhtar-Khaleel wrote on Facebook: “Last night the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance hosted a forum for gubernatorial candidates. The questions were written by our community and sent in advance and two candidates chose not to come (Crowley and Rodriguez). At the last minute, there were negotiations that asking about genocide shouldn’t be a yes/no question. WMCA stood firm that questions of morality are truly yes or no questions.”
Akhtar-Khaleel added: “The two campaigns said they would meet privately with the org. I’ve seen and lived this before, and it was incredibly demoralizing. In 2024, we watched a presidential campaign refuse to engage Muslims publicly while we were shuffled into private rooms for backdoor meetings. As someone who experienced this, I can’t tell you how deeply degrading it is to be told behind closed doors that you matter, while being ignored or worse, insulted in public. You’re treated as a liability instead of a constituent. It screams that your votes are wanted, but your faces are not. Our money, our labor, our turnout are welcomed but our humanity, out loud, on a stage will always be too costly to win.”
Well, now Crowley has given a different story.
Akhtar-Khaleel added: “That calculation lost in 2024 and it will keep losing. Because here’s what’s true in Wisconsin: Muslim communities are organized (hi, Uninstructed movement). We are deeply integrated with other coalitions and communities. We host forums. We fundraise. We knock doors. We turn out. The issues on the table right now demand moral clarity and political courage. Showing up in front of our community, on the record, answering our questions, that’s the bare minimum of respect you can give to the people you represent.”
