MSNBC host Jen Psaki claimed the GOP was “trying to recruit” Muslims into being anti-transgender, although activists from the Islamic community have disputed the claim peddled by the liberal network of a “toxic agenda” they are being accused of joining and say it is an issue of religious freedom, not politics.
The former White House press secretary claimed on her Sunday show, “Inside with Jen Psaki,” that the Republican Party was dividing Muslims from transgender people, and listed why she believed the GOP was a danger to the Muslim community. The comments were first noted by Kevin Tober at Media Research Center.
“The GOP successfully managed to split off Southern Whites from the Democratic Party. Now, decades later, the right wing is reviving that same playbook, this time with Muslim Americans and trans people,” said Psaki. “The GOP is trying to recruit Muslim Americans… against another tiny marginalized group of Americans, transgender people.”
The director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute, Ismail Royer, told Fox News Digital that Psaki’s remarks were insulting to Muslims.
“The left wants to scare Muslims into accepting its indoctrination of our children in exchange for a smile and pat on the head,” Royer told Fox News Digital. “They insult Muslims by portraying us as having no agency or intelligence but can’t imagine that we’ve weighed the bargain they offer us and rejected it.”
During the segment Psaki discussed why she believed Muslims should be scared of the GOP.
Psaki said, “It’s important to remember that back in 2011, during the Republican primary, the right wing had designated Muslim Americans as public enemy number one. No surprise, given that conspiracy theorists – remember the birthers? I do – have been trying for years to portray President Obama as a Trojan horse for Sharia law. Republican after Republican candidate ginned up fear about the fabricated threat posed by an Islamic legal doctrine debated by scholars for centuries. To them, the imaginary prospect of Sharia law in this country was scarier than gun violence, climate change, and more important to discuss than, say, millions of people who didn’t have health care.”
A similar narrative was peddled on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” hosted by Mehdi Hasan on June 21, and was attacked by one of the most prominent Islamic organizations in the U.S. as “ludicrous.”
“[MSNBC guest] Wajahat Ali warns his fellow Muslims against falling for GOP tactics to draw them into attacks against the LGBTQ community,” MSNBC tweeted, describing the segment.
“We live in a pluralistic society… And Muslims who are watching need to know that these same forces who are using us against LGBTQ have turned on us and will turn on other people of color and immigrants,” said Ali.
The chiron for the segment suggested the GOP was “wooing” Muslims for “the toxic agenda.”
However, an executive at the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the “largest Muslim civil rights organization” in America disputed the claims that Muslims were functioning as part of the GOP’s playbook.
“It doesn’t matter who supports a cause. What matters is whether the cause is just in itself,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director at CAIR about the segment.
