On Saturday, November 1, the last day of early voting, Del. Salam Rasoul (D-Roanoke City), who goes by the anglicized nickname “Sam,” was greeting voters at the registrar’s office on Kimball Ave. Rasoul was first standing alone at a snack table next to the parking lot when he was approached for a few impromptu comments.
After some initial pleasantries, the exchange went as follows:
RS: Scott Dreyer with The Roanoke Star. Do you have a few minutes for a few questions?
Rasoul: I do not right now. We’re busy, uh, campaigning right now, but (thumbs up)…but, certainly… (while walking away from the snack table toward the parking lot).
RS: You seem to be having a little break time right now. Just a couple of real quick questions?
Rasoul: Thank you so much (while still walking away).
RS: Do you endorse Jay Jones still?
Rasoul: I do! Thank you.
RS: Why is that?
Rasoul: I encourage everybody to come out and vote for him (turning away and walking onto the parking lot).
RS: How about the “two bullets”? Does that not bother you at all? As the father of two small children?
Rasoul: Thank you so much (thumbs up).
RS: You still endorse Jay Jones?
Rasoul: I do. I hope everybody comes out to vote for Jay Jones (while walking out of voice range).
The entire encounter lasted only about 30 seconds or so. The brief conversation with Del. Rasoul can be found here.
In recent months, Jones has made national headlines for a number of incidents that to many seem reckless at a minimum or violently psychotic at a maximum.
The first scandal to break regarded his previous arrest for driving 116 mph on I-64. Jones was arrested for reckless driving, but his punishment was community service. Some have pointed out that some in Virginia drove less than 116, but were jailed for their recklessness.
Later, it was shown that of his 1,000 hours of community service for his driving charge, Jones performed 500 hours of it for his own political action committee. That is now being investigated, as many claim that it is illegal.
Jones also expressed a wish to see more police die in the line of duty, seeming to hope that it would reduce police brutality.
But the most intense outrage has come from the recently-released 2022 texts where Jones not only fantasized about killing the then-Speaker of the House of Delegates, Todd Gilbert, but even expressed a desire to see Gilbert’s two young sons die. As some have pointed out, the House of Delegates has only one hundred members, so not only do they all know each other, but Gilbert’s sons would have been very familiar to Jones.
Unfortunately, there were several other questions The Roanoke Star had hoped to ask on November 1 on behalf of our reading audience, but Rasoul walked away, leaving those queries unanswered.
One question is, does Rasoul have any explanation of why he, as of late summer, was Number One among the 100-plus candidates for House of Delegates seats to receive out-of-state money?
Related to that, why did two out-of-state donors give a combined total of $245,807 to Rasoul’s campaign?
According to the Federal Reserve, the per capita income of Roanoke City in 2023 was $56,075. So those two donors alone gave more than the average annual income of over four Roanokers.
As explained in this commentary, Roanoke City resident and award-winning author Mitchell J. Kaplan raises this concern:
“Sam Rasoul’s campaign has received substantial funding from donors with ties to CAIR, an organization founded by individuals whose ideological sympathies were aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. In Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, and other Islamic countries, the Muslim Brotherhood is considered so radical and dangerous that it is banned. A donor listing on VPAP (Virginia Public Access Project) shows Mohannad S. Malas ($131,075) and Manal Fakhoury ($114,732) among Rasoul’s top contributors. Manal Fakhoury is a Florida pharmacist and secretary of CAIR’s National Board. Mohannad S. Malas is a California real estate developer and board member of the Orange County Islamic Foundation. Why are these individuals so interested in Roanoke?”
A third question was to ask Del. Rasoul why, over the past several years, he has never responded to any of the several emailed requests from The Roanoke Star for information or statements.
It is unclear how Rasoul’s reluctance to answer questions and his endorsement of Jones relate to Rasoul’s campaign slogan ofTruth. Love. Grit.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 4.
Want to find your voting place, dates, and hours? Use this state-run, non-partisan website, elections.virginia.gov, to find it.
– Scott Dreyer
