A Louisiana man who is running for elected office has defended a Facebook post calling for a boycott of Muslim-owned businesses.

Michael “Duke” Lowrie wrote in November 2015 that people who follow the Islamic religion “seek to kill us and make us submit to their false religion and god”.

“I for one will no longer knowingly go to or do business with any establishment that has someone who I know is a follower of Islam working there. I will challenge every Islamist (sic) I see to denounce their false god and religion. Those Islamist (sic) here walk among us in stores and we act as if they're no different than any of us. Well I'm sorry they are different. Their religion demands you to convert or die.”

Mr Lowrie, a firefighter and paramedic who is running for the state’s House of Representatives District 8, will participate in the election on 25 March.

He cited a so-called “kill list” that surfaced on social media last year and included Shreveport, the 113th largest city in the country.

The Republican defended his Facebook post and the call for a boycott.

“We are a Christian nation,” he told the Shreveport Times.

“The threat of Islamic terrorism is real. Too many times, politicians are sometimes so afraid to speak the truth because of the PC culture in which we live. I'll call it how I see it. We must tackle Islamic extremism head on. I believe President Trump will do that.”

Mr Lowrie could not be immediately contacted for comment by The Independent.

friends1.jpg, by Rachael Revesz (Facebook)

His comments come as Donald Trump has been condemned for appointing people to his cabinet who have openly expressed Islamophobic views. This includes Michael Flynn, his defense secretary, who said fear of Muslims is “rational” and described Islam as a “cancer”. Fox News’ KT McFarland, who will join Mr Trump’s national security team, insisted that followers of Islam were determined to "destroy western civilisation".

The population of around 3.3 million American Muslims have faced record high levels of discrimination and hate crimes since the presidential campaign began. Hate crimes grew 67 per cent in 2015, according to the FBI, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that Muslims faced a higher level of threats since the 9/11 attacks.

IMr Lowrie was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2012 and served as a statewide delegate for Mr Trump in July.

He has also been a member of the National Rifle Association for 20 years and belongs to anti-abortion group Louisiana Right to Life. He does not believe in any exceptions for abortion, such as rape or incest.

“Life, it’s the most important issue. And protection of the unborn, it’s not up for debate,” he said in his campaign video.

He also opposes the “bathroom bill”, which would allow trans people to use the facilities that pertain to their natural gender as opposed to their birth gender.

“I am pro-life, pro-gun, pro-traditional families, and pro-religious liberty. I will vote this way each and every day,” he wrote on Facebook.