Muslims who voted for Trump upset of his pro-'Israel' cabinet picks
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Muslims who voted for Donald Trump, the mastermind behind the infamous Muslim ban, are disappointed with his largely pro-"Israel," and anti-Muslim cabinet picks.
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Senator Marco Rubio walks off the stage with President Donald Trump after a speech where Trump revised a Cuba policy in Miami in June 2017. (AP)
Muslim leaders in the United States who supported Republican Donald Trump in protest of the Biden administration's backing for the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon are now disappointed that Trump has selected a cabinet widely made up of pro-"Israel" figures.
"Trump won because of us, and we're not happy with his secretary of state pick and others," said Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia businessman who headed the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump.
Muslim backing for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have contributed to other swing state victories, analysts say.
Trump chose Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a fervent friend of "Israel," as Secretary of State. Rubio has labeled Hamas as a "terrorist organization" and rejected ceasefire calls, claiming they would give Hamas time to regroup and strengthen its position, jeopardizing "Israel's" security.
The president-elect also selected Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and prominent conservative figure known for his staunch support of "Israel" and his close alignment with the policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu's regime.
Perhaps the worst choice of all for US Muslims is New York Representative Elise Stefanik to be US ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik spearheaded efforts to silence pro-Palestine voices on college campuses under the guise of fighting for antisemitism.
She formerly criticized Joe Biden's decision to halt a shipment of thousands of bombs to the occupation, alleging that if "Israel" was not given such deadly weapons to "achieve total victory," America may face its own October 7.
Trump in 'Zionist overdrive'
According to Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN), Muslim voters anticipated Trump would appoint cabinet people who promote peace, but there was little evidence of this.
Nazarko expressed disappointment and noted that the administration is a failure to the "pro-peace and anti-war movement."
He told Reuters that Trump seemed to be "going Zionist overdrive," detailing how "Obviously we're still waiting to see where the administration will go, but it does look like our community has been played."
Many Muslim and Arab supporters of Trump had high hopes that Richard Grenell, his former acting director of national intelligence, would play a pivotal role in his administration after months of outreach to Muslim and Arab American communities. Grenell was even floated as a potential Secretary of State at events.
Massad Boulos—Tiffany Trump’s Lebanese father-in-law—also met frequently with Arab American and Muslim leaders. Both promised these communities that Trump was a candidate for peace, pledging to swiftly end the wars in the Middle East and beyond. However, once in power, neither ally could be reached for follow-up, raising questions about Trump's true commitment to these promises.
Trump paid many visits to places with strong Arab American and Muslim populations, including a stop in Dearborn, a 75% Arab city, where he attempted to exploit anger towards the current administration.
Two Trump cabinet picks in jeopardy over sexual misconduct claims
Dissatisfaction continues to rise with Trump's cabinet picks as sexual misconduct claims threatened the confirmation of two of Donald Trump's most contentious cabinet picks on Friday, Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice for defense secretary, and Matt Gaetz, the far-right Florida lawmaker chosen for attorney general.
Revelations have surfaced that police in California investigated a sexual assault allegation against him in 2017 and despite no charges pressed, the accusations were severe enough for Trump's newly hired chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to allegedly speak with Hegseth after learning about them on Wednesday evening, the day following his nomination.
Vanity Fair reported that the incoming president's attorneys spoke with Hegseth after allegations that he was involved in a 2017 incident at the Hyatt Regency hotel in California, which was holding a Republican women's conference.
According to Vanity Fair, Hegseth informed Wiles and the Trump legal team that it was a consensual affair and described the claim as "he said, she said".
A source said Hegseth had not been thoroughly vetted by the Trump team, something the team denies.
The screening disagreement arose when independent allegations surfaced that regular FBI background investigations of several of Trump's most contentious candidates, which are supposed to identify previous criminal behavior and other potentially disqualifying liabilities, had been halted.
The revelations also fueled uproar around Matt Gaetz, the Florida lawmaker chosen for attorney general while facing a two-year Department of Justice investigation into sex trafficking claims. They included claims that he had formerly engaged in sexual acts with a 17-year-old.
