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According to Just The News, Trump’s upcoming designation fulfills a plan he has eyed since his first term. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed earlier this year that steps were underway to move forward with the designation.
“Yeah, all of that is in the works, and obviously there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them,” Rubio said in August. He added that the process requires careful documentation. “But let me just tell you that there’s a process which I didn’t fully appreciate till I came into this job, and I know people don’t want to hear about processes, but because these things are going to be challenged in court, right? Any group can say, ‘Well, I’m not really a terrorist – that organization is not a terrorist organization,’ so you have to show your – you have to show your paperwork.”
Photo: Yuli Weeks of VOA
The Trump administration’s move comes shortly after Texas Governor Greg Abbott took action at the state level, declaring both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terrorist entities in Texas.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’ The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable,” Abbott stated in a press release.
Under Abbott’s order, both groups and their affiliates are now barred from purchasing or owning real estate in Texas. “These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas,” he added.
The governor’s announcement highlighted the group’s violent history. “WHEREAS, Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood almost 100 years ago, professed that ‘Jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded’ and that Jihad means ‘the fighting of the unbelievers, and involves all possible efforts that are necessary to dismantle the power of the enemies of Islam including beating them, plundering their wealth, destroying their paces of worship and smashing their idols,’” Abbott wrote.
At the federal level, Trump’s designation is gaining legislative support. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation in the House to officially codify the designation, while Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has filed a companion bill in the Senate.
With the coordinated efforts at both state and federal levels, the Trump administration and conservative lawmakers are signaling a firm crackdown on organizations they view as a direct threat to American security and values.
