On Thursday, Ted Cruz announced the creation of his new “national security coalition,” a team of foreign policy advisers that would help him with his “Reagan-esque approach” to national security policy. Among those on the team is Frank Gaffney Jr., who has been notable for propagating wild conspiracy theories  and making Islamophobic comments that rival the things that Donald Trump has said during this campaign. Gaffney is the president of the Center for Security Policy, a think-tank that has been denounced by both sides of the political spectrum for its extreme anti-Islamic views.

Here’s a sampling of his crazy beliefs:

Obama is Basically America’s first Muslim president

This theory is by no means unique in this election cycle: Donald Trump has a history of suggesting that Obama is a Muslim and was a notorious proponent of the “birther” movement.

Gaffney propagates this misinformation even further: in an op-ed for the Washington Times, Gaffney listed the reasons why Obama is essentially America’s first Muslim president, including his apparent “firsthand knowledge of Islam” and the fact that he referred to the Muslim holy book as “the Holy Koran.”

To add to that, Gaffney wrote that the President has attempted to “promote Islam in America” by making statements advocating that Muslims should be able to practice their faith freely in this country (quick note for Frank: the First Amendment of the Constitution says that, too). He adds at the end that “whether Mr. Obama actually is a Muslim or simply plays one in the presidency may, in the end, be irrelevant,” because he’s basically pandering to the Muslim Brotherhood anyway.

The Muslim Brotherhood and Shariah law are infiltrating our institutions and government

Gaffney has created a 10-part course entitled “The Muslim Brotherhood in America,” outlining how the organization is “destroying Western civilization from within.” He even makes claims that prominent political figures such as Huma Abedin, aide to Hillary Clinton, and President Obama have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Additionally, he claims that Shariah doctrine is playing out in U.S. courts (never mind that the evidence he cites is a study from his own organization). To top that off, he perpetuated a theory in 2010 that the logo for the Missile Defense Agency was created specifically to look like the Obama campaign logo, and also looked like the Islamic crescent moon, arguing that this was somehow evidence of Obama’s secret ties to Islam.

Saddam Hussein played a role in the Timothy McVeigh bombing 

Gaffney has expressed many times that he believes that there is a connection between Saddam Hussein and two major attacks on U.S. soil (in which the perpetrators were found and convicted). In 2009, Gaffney stated that there’s “compelling circumstantial evidence of Saddam Hussein‘s Iraq being involved with the people who perpetrated both the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and even the Oklahoma City bombing.”

I could sadly keep going on and on about Gaffney’s Islamophobic conspiracy theories. The publications on the site for the Center of Security Policy–which include titles such as “Star Spangled Shariah” and “Civilization Jihad,”–as well as his numerous op-eds, are a treasure trove for anyone looking to prop up their anti-Islamic and bigoted views. Trump himself has actually cited a poll created by Gaffney’s organization in order to advocate for a ban on Muslims entering the country.

This Republican primary, unfortunately, seems to be dissolving into a contest for who can prop up more hateful and xenophobic rhetoric. While Gaffney has been banned from the Conservative Political Action Conference in the past, it appears that his beliefs are now becoming acceptable and mainstream among the right-wing of this country, as reflected by Cruz’s choice to appoint him.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

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