'Retract or resign': Cair slams US intelligence chief for talk of Muslim threat

The largest US Muslim civil rights organisation is calling on the director of national intelligence to resign or retract her statement that the biggest threat to the country is "Sharia law" which is "threatening western civilisation". 

The Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) said her remarks were "delusional and disqualifying". 

Speaking at AmericaFest, at the right-wing Turning Point USA summit on Saturday, Tulsi Gabbard said: "The greatest near and longterm threat to both our freedom and our security... is the threat of Islamist ideology."

"It is propagated by people who not only do not believe in freedom. Their fundamental ideology is antithetical to the foundation that we find in our constitution and bill of rights, which is that our creator endowed upon us inalienable rights, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," she added.

"At its core, it is a political ideology that seeks to create a global caliphate that governs us here in America," Gabbard said. 'They will use violence or any means they deem as necessary to silence us."

The crowd of thousands responded with loud applause, despite prominent voices on the American right now saying that anti-Muslim rhetoric is unwarranted, and also potentially a distraction from the pro-Israel lobby's agenda in the US. 

Earlier this year, when the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired a US polling firm to determine how to rehabilitate Israel's image after its genocide in Gaza, the suggested solution was to foment fear of "radical Islam" and "jihadism", the study said. 

"Gabbard is responsible for gathering, analysing and presenting factual information to policymakers so that they can protect the American people. The last person who should serve in this critical, apolitical role is a bigoted conspiracy theorist who spreads hate against the American people," Cair said in a statement on Monday. 
 
"She is completely detached from reality and has no business serving as the director of national intelligence."

'Ready to laugh'

In her speech, Gabbard called out US cities with large Muslim populations, such as Dearborn, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Paterson, New Jersey, where she said, "Islamist clerics are openly pushing this Islamist ideology, trying to recruit and radicalise young people".

Cair, she added, had "issued a call to action to use American legal and political systems to implement Sharia law".

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Cair's Washington headquarters said no such statement was ever made. 

The executive director of Cair's Paterson office told Middle East Eye that Gabbard should come to the city and see for herself.

"I'm feeling like I'm almost ready to laugh, because at this point, the Muslim community is so numb to the vilification, harassment and intimidation by leadership in this administration that every day is like a new crisis, and you never know what to expect," Selaedin Maksut said. 

"When Muslims are civically engaged, she conflates that with terrorism and nefarious dual loyalty, when in fact, it's very clear that people in her camp have a loyalty and priority to Israel over American interests," he added. "Because Cair invites American Muslims and calls upon American Muslims to fight for justice, to fight for civil rights, to fight for dignity, to fight for righteousness - because we do that, now we're the bad guy."

New Jersey's Democratic lawmakers hit back at Gabbard for her remarks. 

Senator Cory Booker, who also happens to be a staunchly pro-Israel figure, condemned Gabbard's remarks on X as "dishonest, cruel and un-American". 

"Tulsi Gabbard's dangerous attempt to sow fear, pit people against each other, and smear the Muslim Americans of Paterson, NJ... endangers an entire community," he wrote.

Senator Andy Kim, the first Korean-American elected to the upper chamber, said on X: "Muslim Americans are our friends and neighbours... Trump and his team want to divide us so they can distract us. We can't let them."