CAIR Calls on Trump Organization to Cancel Mar-a-Lago Event Hosted by Another Anti-Muslim Hate Group

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Trump Organization to cancel an upcoming event to be hosted at Mar-a-Lago by another anti-Muslim hate group.

On November 23, the Center for Security Policy (CSP) plans to hold a fundraiser at President Trump's private resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated CSP as a hate group that is "a conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States." The group is headed by notorious Islamophobe Frank Gaffney.

SEE: Another anti-Muslim group to host event at Mar-a-Lago
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20191017/another-anti-muslim-group-to-host-event-at-mar-a-lago
SEE: Backgrounder on Center for Security Policy
http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-organizations/57-center-for-security-policy-csp.html

Earlier this month, the Trump Organization canceled an event at Mar-a-Lago hosted by ACT for America, another anti-Muslim hate group, after pressure from CAIR and other civil rights organizations. CSP received a permit to host their event two days before the cancelation of ACT for America's event.

"The Trump Organization made the right decision to cancel a previous event hosted by an anti-Muslim hate group, and we call them to do so again," said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw. "The President of the United States should not profit from a group that makes its money by demonizing an entire faith and whose founder traffics in widely-debunked conspiracy theories, including that former President Obama is Muslim and that mosques want to destroy western civilization from within."

Backgrounder on Frank Gaffney:

Gaffney is a notorious anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who has claimed that "most of the Muslim-American groups of any prominence in America are now known to be, as a matter of fact, hostile to the United States and its Constitution."

He is a key promoter of the bizarre conspiracy theory that Muslims in public service are infiltrating the government on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Gaffney has questioned "whether Mr. Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States," claimed the Missile Defense Agency logo is part of a "worrying pattern of official U.S. submission to Islam," claimed an aide to Hillary Clinton was a secret Muslim Brotherhood operative, was a key witness for the plaintiffs in a controversial lawsuit seeking to block construction of a Tennessee mosque, promoted the debunked claim that Dearborn, Mich., is a "ghetto enclave in which it's Muslim-only," and hosted "white supremacist" Jared Taylor on his "Secure Freedom" radio program.

He has in the past:

• Suggested that Saddam Hussein was behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• Claimed Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, was submitting to Islamic law when he condemned the burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor.
• Objected to Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.) serving on the House Intelligence Committee because they are Muslim.
• Accused Pope Francis of having "rabidly anti-American" views after the pope said it is "not Christian" to urge the deportation of undocumented immigrants and to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Gaffney was banned from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011 after accusing fellow Republicans of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer, cited Gaffney in his anti-Muslim manifesto.

Gaffney's staff attorney, David Yerushalmi, has advocated outlawing the practice of Islam in America and is the key promoter of anti-Islam bills in state legislatures nationwide.

White supremacist and White House senior adviser Steve Bannon hosted Gaffney on his Sirius XM radio show "Breitbart News Daily" 29 times.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ayan Ajeen, 202-774-0770, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)