A Washington, D.C.-based group named Muslim Advocates criticized President Trump on Tuesday for a tweet drawing attention to two Somalia refugees arrested in Arizona for allegedly trying to join ISIS, citing the tweet as one of of many “racist” and “bigoted” attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and immigrants by Republicans and Fox News.
“President Trump, Fox News and congressional Republicans are recklessly wielding anti-Muslim bigotry and racism as political tools and are encouraging hate and violence in the process,” said Madihha Ahussain, whose title is special counsel for anti-Muslim bigotry for Muslim Advocates.
Ahussain noted that on Tuesday morning the Fox News Channel show “Fox & Friends” “aired a story about Somalis arrested for wanting to join ISIS, prompting the president to tweet about Somali refugees wishing for ‘another 911.’”
However, Trump simply recounted the basic details of the story, concluding with “Get smart people!”
“Somali refugees arresed in Tucson on way to Egypt. They were in touch with an agent posing as a terrorist,” Trump wrote. “One of them stated, “The best wake up call is Islamic State to get victory or another 9/11.” Get smart people! #MAGA #KAG
@foxandfriends”
Nevertheless, Ahussain said the tweet “follows weeks of Republican attacks on immigrants and Ilhan Omar that include Rand Paul saying that he is ‘dumbfounded how unappreciative she is of our country’ and Marco Rubio tweeting a deceptively edited video intended to make Omar look like an anti-white bigot.”
“This formula also led to a bigoted anti-Black tirade from Trump directed at civil rights leaders and the people of Baltimore,” he said.
Ahussain was referring to Trump’s tweets on Saturday criticizing Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., for browbeating the acting Department of Homeland Secretary regarding conditions in migrant detention centers. Trump urged the congressman to focus on fixing a “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested” part of his district.
The video tweeted by Rubio was of Omar in an Al Jazeera interview making the common claim by defenders of Islam that there are more white terrorists than Muslims terrorists, so Americans “should be more fearful of white men.”
Al Jazeera asked Omar in the February 2018 interview: “A lot of conservatives in particular would say that the rise of Islamophobia is the result not of hate but of fear — a legitimate fear they say of ‘jihadist terrorism’ whether it’s Fort Hood or San Bernandino or the recent truck attack in New York. What do you say to them?”
Omar replied: “I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country, because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country. And so if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country, we should be profiling, monitoring and creating policies to fight the radicalization of white men.”
In his statement Tuesday, Ahussain said, “This is how the Infrastructure of Hate works.”
