Ilhan Omar joined Rashida Tlaib in making history last November when they became the first-ever Muslim women elected to the US House of Representatives. But both women have been subjected to openly bigoted attacks from those in power, from the Florida official who pondered whether or not Tlaib would "blow up Capitol Hill," to a poster at a West Virginia Republican Party event linking Omar to the 9/11 attacks. And now Fox News host Jeanine Pirro joined in, suggesting that the fact that Omar wears a hijab could mean that the Congresswoman’s loyalties lie not with the Constitution but with Islamic sharia law.

On Saturday's episode of her show, Justice with Judge Jeanine, Pirro discussed the allegations of anti-Semitism against Omar in the wake of tweets criticizing Israel and AIPAC. "She’s not getting this anti-Israel sentiment doctrine from the Democrat Party," said Pirro. "So if it’s not rooted in the Party, where is she getting it from? Think about it."

It's both bigoted and incorrect to imply that Omar’s criticism of Israel must inevitably spring from her Muslim faith and her Muslim faith alone. Support for Israel is declining among America's left-wing millennial women of all backgrounds, as well as among Democrats generally.

And yet, Pirro got even worse from there. After quoting a Koranic passage on the hijab, Pirro suggests that Omar’s decision to wear head coverings means she’s loyal to sharia above US law. "Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to sharia law, which is in itself is antithetical to the United States constitution?" Pirro asked the audience.

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Fox host Jeanine Pirro says that Ilhan Omar's hijab may mean that she's against the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/yxGRVoYkQm — John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) March 10, 2019

In case the absolutely shocking extent that statement's Islamophobia is less than immediately clear, imagine if Pirro were discussing a religious symbol from any other minority faith group in America. Were all the Catholics sporting ash crosses on their foreheads last week indicating that their loyalty lies with Biblical law rather than American law? Of course not.

Pirro later returned to the issue while talking to guests, saying that she thinks Omar is displaying “sharia-adherent behavior.”

“It is somewhat disturbing if she is someone who is sharia complaint,” she mused.

Panic over the imagined threat of sharia—a set of religious rules and guidelines for personal morality that are interpreted broadly by various practicing Muslims—has been widespread in post-9/11 America. All but seven states have introduced anti-sharia legislation, and while on the campaign trail in 2017 accused child molester and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore proclaimed, falsely, that whole communities in America are governed by sharia law.

Fox News has been forced to apologize for spreading false information about sharia before. In 2015, a guest on—who'd have thought—Pirro’s show claimed that there are areas in Europe ruled by sharia courts that non-Muslims do not dare enter. Pirro was forced to apologize for the inaccurate statements in a subsequent episode of her show.

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Gabrielle Bruney Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture.

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