AHMED: it is FALLACY to claim the #Trump administration is ‘#Islamophobic‘ – On the anniversary of #Halabja and #Anfaal #genocide perpetrated by #SaddamHussein & Iraqi Arab government on Iraqi #Kurds claiming 180,000 lives only ended because of a #Republican @POTUS pic.twitter.com/e6sTT6xz3t
— Qanta Ahmed (@MissDiagnosis) March 17, 2019
In a CNN interview, a Muslim physician who also is a columnist and author rejected claims that President Trump is “Islamophobic,” insisting he is “beloved” in many parts of the Muslim world.
“One thing the viewers should know, this president and this administration is often castigated as Islamophobic, but I move in the Muslim world, in Egypt, in Oman, in Jordan, in Iraqi Kurdistan, where this president is beloved,” said Dr. Qanta Ahmed.
Ahmed, the daughter of Sunni Muslim Pakistani immigrants to Britain, said Trump and the Republican Party going back to President George Bush “is very dearly held,” the Daily Wire reported.
She noted that the day of the interview, Saturday, was the anniversary of the massacre of 180,000 Kurds by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Saddam, she reminded host Fredericka Whitfield, was removed by a Republican president.
“So it is very important not to lose so much perspective that we start believing our entire government is Islamophobic,” she said. “That is not the case.”
Ahmed said she was pleased with Trump’s “very categorical condemnation of the events in New Zealand,” referring to the massacre of 49 Muslims by a white supremacist.
“And I also feel that he needs to do the same about white supremacy, not only the United States, but globally,” she said. “There is nothing — the president has no responsibility if a fanatic mentions him in a manifesto. A fanatic could equally mention me. So I don’t think that is his responsibility. But, yes, I would like to see President Trump condemn all forms of lethal bigotry.”
In the interview, Ahmed implicitly condemned Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for her anti-Semitic statements.
She said Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the United States are claiming Muslims are “victims.”
“We just saw a few weeks ago the exploitation of this narrative in the trivialization of anti-Semitism,” she said. “Anti-Semitism occurred in Congress and the reaction was when there was outrage that this was somehow hate directed at a Muslim who is spewing Islamist ideology. So we have to be extremely clear about the language, clear about the narrative because that controls.”
Whitfield asked if she was referring to Omar.
“Yes,” Ahmed replied.
