Facing backlash from media noting that there are laws prohibiting religious discrimination, Democrat Colorado State Senator Iman Jodeh has deleted online posts advertising an internship available only to people who “Identify as a Muslim” or hailing from predominately Muslim countries.
The first qualification listed in the internship ad promoted on Instagram and Facebook by Sen. Jodeh was:
"Identify as a Muslim and/or as Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian."
Libs of TikTok first drew attention to the discriminatory qualifications in a post at 12:56 am Wednesday, tagging the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division:
“Internship program for Democrat Reps at the Colorado State Capitol Requirements?
“You must identify as muslim or middle eastern How is this legal?
Internship program for Democrat Reps at the Colorado State Capitol Requirements? You must identify as muslim or middle eastern How is this legal? @CivilRights https://t.co/8NGqdSw1Cy
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 11, 2026
But, it was Libs of TikTok’s second post seven hours later, at 8:04 am, that went viral:
“Colorado State Senator Iman Jodeh, who’s celebrated as the first muslim elected to the Colorado legislature, is advertising an internship program at the Colorado Capitol
“Qualifications are you have to be muslim or north african.
“This is illegal.
“Cc @CivilRights”
National media quickly picked up the story, noting that the “Muslim only” requirement appeared to clearly violate both federal and Colorado state civil rights laws prohibiting job discrimination based on religion.
Newsweek’s article reports that, when contacted, the Justice Department responded with a platitude and declined to comment (DTC) on the legality of the ad’s qualifications:
“A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told Newsweek that the DOJ is ‘committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans and enforcing federal civil rights laws fairly and evenly. We will DTC on this specific posting.’”
“Jodeh posted the notice of the Legislative Intern Program and its qualifications Monday, less than a week after securing her seat in the midterm election,” according to The Daily Caller.
Nonetheless, as of Thursday, both the Instagram and Facebook posts of the internship job announcement had been deleted.
