Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday morning accused Lowe’s, the nationwide home-improvement chain, of giving weight to anti-Muslim views by pulling its ads from the TLC show “All-American Muslim.”

Murphy said on the House floor that Lowe’s last week pulled its ads after a Florida-based group criticized the show for trying to hide the anti-American views that many Muslims hold. In response to these complaints by the Florida Family Association, Lowe’s pulled its ads, but Murphy said that decision is a dangerous precedent for the company to follow.

{mosads}“This is a major American company rubber-stamping basic foundational bigotry against a major American religious group,” Murphy said.

“Lowe’s pulled these ads because one right-wing anti-Muslim group in Florida said that the show hides the ‘true agenda of Islam,’ which according to this group is to destroy America. It’s one thing when a fringe group or a radical, unhinged pastor is doing it. It’s quite another when a Fortune 100 company is endorsing this nonsense.”

Murphy, who is running for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) seat, rejected Lowe’s’ statement that some of its customers have “strong political and social views.”

“Congratulations to Lowe’s for acknowledging that there are some really bigoted people in the world,” Murphy said. “That doesn’t mean that Lowe’s or any other company should acquiesce to this kind of behavior.

“For instance, there are, unfortunately, a lot of people out there who still hold racist views about African Americans, but I don’t think that means Lowe’s is going to be pulling its ads from television shows featuring African Americans.”

Murphy said Congress should not remain silent when any group of people is “marginalized” because they worship differently, and indicated that he and other House members would be sending a letter to Lowe’s on the issue.