The loyalty that Reince Priebus showed to Donald Trump on the campaign trail has obviously paid off as he has earned a position as Trump’s White House Chief of Staff. Throughout the campaign, when Priebus was pushed by journalists to answer tough questions, he continued to put a positive spin on everything in bulk. One can go all the way back to when he was asked by Chuck Todd on Meet The Press earlier this year before the convention about the Republican Party’s “Autopsy Report,” which determined that reason they lost in 2012 was because they were not reaching out to minorities. The questions were about why they were supporting a candidate who wasn’t prioritizing, reaching out to minorities or rather, was campaigning out against them.
Reince Priebus on Muslim registry plan: 'I'm not going to rule out anything' https://t.co/YN2EIWJmdd
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 20, 2016
On ABC’s This Week, Priebus was put on the “burner” again over the idea that the Trump administration would target Muslims, with questions about Mike Flynn, Trump’s new National Security Advisor, who reportedly said more than once earlier in the year that Islam was not a religion but a political ideology and whether his views were in line with how Donald Trump views Islam. Priebus did what politicians hardly do which was to give a definite answer by saying that he thought so, rather than take the question on a scenic route.
“Well, I think so. I mean, look, phrasing can always be done differently but clearly there are some aspects of that faith that are problematic. And we know them. We’ve seen it.”
Following this, whether Reince Priebus was referring to Mike Flynn’s statement or what he just said, he followed by saying that it wasn’t a blanket statement for all people under that faith. But how could it not be when Trump’s campaign and his supporters have clearly been making blanket statements against Islam. If we knew that Donald Trump’s supporters were scholars of the Koran and were saying what they have while wearing “Make America Great Again” caps with their stars and stripes wardrobe, this might be viewed in a different way. This should force one to ask if Priebus himself knows enough about the religion to consider it a political ideology, and say with certainty that there are some aspects that are problematic.
In his response, he clearly refers to Islam as a faith so we can see that he accepts some aspects of it. While there are many views available which show the Right’s obvious opposition against Muslims, one view by Dr. Faheem Younus published in 2012 shows that it is the Republican Party who have waged war on Islam and Reince Priebus’ response only validates this. He was also on Meet The Press giving a similar view, also saying that there would not be a registry for Muslims but also, is not ruling out anything.
New Trump security adviser Mike Flynn's hardline views of Islam have made him a political lightning rod https://t.co/3Ux5EnFfKS | AP pic.twitter.com/xSMesvsDKF
— POLITICO (@politico) November 18, 2016
A Cabinet Of Horrors
Mike Flynn is just one of the many picks for the new Trump administration that many people — even Republican lawmakers — are concerned about. Another one is Steven Bannon who has been targeted for his association with the white nationalist internet news source Breitbart, who will be the “Karl Rove” of the White House. Some close to the transition team have said that Preibus’ involvement will provide a check on Bannon’s potentially extremist views but as we’ve seen, Priebus will accept even the most extreme views for loyalty, so there is no reason to believe that Reince Priebus will be a check at all.
And while Republicans have effectively fear-mongered their way to the White House, the Left continues to be fearless in not stirring up Americans with fears of Islamic terrorism. There is clear acknowledgement among Liberals that it needs to be stopped and while it is complicated, a strategy enabled in the Middle East against extremists on the ground has been effective and will be even more so should Mosul and Raqqa be freed of the grip of the Islamic State before Trump takes office. We know that the reason ISIS prevails in the Middle East is because they can feed off of the sectarianism, which the new Trump administration clearly has no problem inciting on American soil. With these picks and Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff, their position — and those of their supporters – against Islam is only going to “Make America A Target Again.”
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