Amid new reports that his team is planning a Muslim registry, The Wall Street Journal revealed last night that Frank Gaffney, one of the country’s leading Islamophobes, is now advising the president-elect on national security issues. This report is just the latest indication of the prominent role white nationalists will play in the incoming Trump administration. Over the course of his career, Gaffney has emerged as one of the most bigoted and hateful figures in the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Gaffney “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes” and designated the Center for Security policy, which Gaffney founded, a hate group. Gaffney himself has accused Chris Christie of turning a blind eye to treason by appointing a Muslim judge, claimed General David Petraeus was submitting to “Islamic law” and praised white nationalist Jared Taylor. Gaffney is so extreme that he was banned from CPAC in 2011 for Islamophobia.

Even most disturbing, Gaffney’s views appear to align closely with both Trump and Steve Bannon. Gaffney helped inspire Trump’s Muslim ban and both have been fiery promoters of birtherism. With Gaffney’s involvement in advising the president-elect, Trump now seems intent on taking his campaign’s darkest and most bigoted elements into the White House.

Frank Gaffney’s Long Record of Islamophobia

Southern Poverty Law Center: Frank Gaffney is “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.” “Frank Gaffney Jr. Once a respectable Washington insider, Frank Gaffney Jr. is now one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]

Gaffney founded the Center for Security Policy, designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. “CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY Founded in 1988 by former Reagan administration official Frank Gaffney, Jr., The Center for Security Policy (CSP) has gone from a respected hawkish think tank focused on foreign affairs to a conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 11/16/16]

Gaffney Helped Inspire Donald Trump’s Proposed Muslim Ban

Gaffney backed a “Moratorium on Refugees and Muslim Colonization” months before Trump called for his Muslim ban.  “Compelling images of would-be immigrants from the world’s hellholes offer an incomplete picture of what’s afoot, literally. First, the overwhelming majority of those on the move are Muslims. Their migration conforms to a duty of their faith known as hijra, or spreading Islam’s reach to the non-Muslim world through colonization. Second, there’s no limit to the flow. Whatever is being said about distributing ‘refugees’ among Western nations means nothing if there are millions more who are ready to come, too. Third, we’re told the United States isn’t doing its part and must take many thousands of unvettable Syrians and others. In fact, the Obama administration has given refuge and/or permanent residency to over 280,000 Muslims in the past year alone. Rep. Brian Babin has introduced legislation calling for a moratorium on further refugees here. Sounds like a plan.”  [“We Need a Moratorium on Refugees and Muslim Colonization,” Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy, 9/15/15]

Donald Trump justified his call for a ban on Muslim immigration by citing figures from Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy. “The most tangible example of that is Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslim immigration, which he justified by citing figures from Gaffney’s think tank, the Center for Security Policy, about the supposed jihadist sympathies of American Muslims. (Gaffney called for a ‘moratorium on refugees and Muslim colonization’ in September.” [Slate, 12/8/15]

Gaffney was an Early Proponent of the Birther Conspiracy

2008: Gaffney said there was evidence that Obama “was born in Kenya rather than, as he claims, Hawaii” and, while he was in school in Indonesia, “identified not only as a Muslim but as an Indonesian.” “Another question yet to be resolved is whether Mr. Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States, a prerequisite pursuant to the U.S. Constitution. There is evidence Mr. Obama was born in Kenya rather than, as he claims, Hawaii. There is also a registration document for a school in Indonesia where the would-be president studied for four years, on which he was identified not only as a Muslim but as an Indonesian. If correct, the latter could give rise to another potential problem with respect to his eligibility to be president. Curiously, Mr. Obama has, to date, failed to provide an authentic birth certificate which could clear up the matter. — Then there is the Democratic candidate’s get-out-the-vote effort. In addition to the prospect that its ‘Arab-Americans for Obama’ effort is recruiting Muslim Brotherhood elements to enhance turnout, the Obama campaign is trolling for voters in problematic places. Some are felons in prison systems long used by Islamists as centers for recruiting converts to their causes.”  [“GAFFNEY: The jihadist vote,” Frank Gaffney, Op-ed, Washington Times, 10/14/08]

Gaffney Peddled Hate and anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theories

Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theories

Gaffney claimed the Muslim Brotherhood was undertaking “civilization jihad” within the US Government and called for a new House Un-America Activities Committee to root out sympathizers. “‘So pervasive now is the MB’s [Muslim Brotherhood’s] ‘civilization jihad’ within the U.S. government and civil institutions that a serious, sustained and rigorous investigation of the phenomenon by the legislative branch is in order. To that end, we need to establish a new and improved counterpart to the Cold War-era’s HUAC [House Un-American Activities Committee] and charge it with examining and rooting out anti-American – and anti-constitutional – activities that constitute an even more insidious peril than those pursued by communist Fifth Columnists fifty years ago. ‘ –column, Center for Security Policy, October 2011.” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]

In 2011 Gaffney led the debunked charge that Huma Abedin was part of a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy. “Gaffney’s wild-eyed accusations would certainly fit right into the red-baiting HUAC tradition, judging from his long history of smears and innuendo aimed at Muslims. There was his groundless 2011 claim that Huma Abedin — aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — was part of a ‘Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy.’ That charge was subsequently trumpeted by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), prompting even conservative Republican stalwarts such as Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) to condemn it.” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]

Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy claimed the “Iran Lobby” associated with government individuals such as UN Ambassador Susan Rice and special advisor to Hillary Clinton, Dennis Ross, was influencing U.S. policy. “In 2009, another dubious CSP report alleged that an ‘Iran Lobby’ operating in Washington, D.C., was influencing U.S. policy through a network of shady operatives and prominent politicos. The report said that ‘in one way or another’ U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass and Dennis Ross, then the special advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were among those associated with the Iran Lobby. In fact, the Iran Lobby was essentially a fabrication.” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]

Gaffney suggested that Chris Christie was turning a blind eye to treason when he appointed a Muslim to the New Jersey state judiciary. “The Daily Beast credited Gaffney in 2012 with driving the state and federal push for anti-sharia laws. When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie defended his appointment of a Muslim to the state judiciary against charges that the governor was abetting the implementation of sharia, Gaffney suggested on a radio show that Christie might be turning a blind eye to treason.”  [Washington Post, 11/15/16]

Gaffney accused U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan of trying to inject Islamic Sharia law into the country’s financial system.  “Gaffney argued in a series of 2010 columns that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, then the dean of Harvard Law School, was trying to inject Islamic Sharia law into the country’s financial system. Because Islamic Finance Project was established at the school during Kagan’s tenure there, Gaffney alleged she was a cog in the ‘stealth jihad’ machine helping the Muslim Brotherhood dismantle American capitalism from within. The op-eds even ran alongside photoshopped images of Kagan wearing a turban. Kagan wasn’t the only prominent figure that Gaffney accused of submitting to Sharia law, either. Gen. David Petraeus was the subject of Gaffney’s ire after he condemned a controversial Florida pastor who burned a Quran.”  [TPM, 7/24/15]

Gaffney accused General David Petraeus of “submission” to Islamic Sharia law after the general strongly condemned the burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor Terry Jones.  GAFFNEY: “We won’t have time here to go through this. Let me just mention several different ways in which this kind of influence operation is being run against those sorts of target sets. An important part of it is keeping us ignorant of what they are doing. I’m sure most of you witnessed General David Petraeus, the much admired military leader, responding to the Quran burning down in Florida by Pastor Terry Jones. Saying that the holy Quran — repeatedly — the holy Quran must not be desecrated, and in other ways, suggesting that what we are doing here is a kind of submission to this program, lest we give offense, which is a blasphemy and a capital crime under Sharia.”  [Frank Gaffney, Liberty Union conference, (accessed via, Think Progress, 4/28/11)]

Vehemently Opposed Ground Zero Mosque

Gaffney opposed the proposed Ground Zero mosque, calling it “a durable, symbolic taunt by our enemies about their bloody victory.” “Now, an imam in New York who suddenly has come into $100 million from undisclosed sources wants to build a 13-story Islamic Cultural Center adjacent to the site of Shariah’s greatest triumph to date in America: Ground Zero, the place where the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers proudly stood until they were destroyed by Shariah-adherent jihadists on Sept. 11, 2001. It is not a coincidence that the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has called his project the Cordoba House. Such a mosque on Sept. 11’s hallowed ground would not only constitute a durable, symbolic taunt by our enemies about their bloody victory. In accordance with Shariah, once ground has been taken for Islam, it can never revert to the non-Muslim Dar al-Harb, literally ‘the house of war.’” [Frank Gaffney opinion, Washington Times, 6/28/10]

Praised White Nationalist Jared Taylor

Gaffney praised the work of leading white nationalist Jared Taylor during an interview on Gaffney’s radio program.  “Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney praised the ‘wonderful’ work of a leading white nationalist during an interview on Gaffney’s nationally-syndicated radio program. Republican politicians and conservative media outlets have regularly cited Gaffney as a purported expert on foreign policy despite his long history of extremism. Gaffney, the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, has raised questions about President Obama’s birth certificate; was banned from the Conservative Political Action Conference after accusing prominent conservatives of somehow being Muslim Brotherhood operatives; and has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as ‘one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.’ The former Reagan official can now add praising a notorious leader of the white nationalist movement to his resume. Gaffney hosted Jared Taylor on the September 29 edition of his Secure Freedom Radio program. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which first noted Taylor’s appearance, wrote that Taylor is one of the country’s ‘most outspoken and prominent white nationalists.’ The non-profit group wrote that Taylor hosts a conference ‘where racist intellectuals rub shoulders with Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists’ and ‘founded the New Century Foundation, a pseudo-intellectual think tank that promotes ‘research’ arguing for white superiority.’”  [Media Matters, 9/30/15]

• Jared Taylor: “Blacks and whites are different. When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western Civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears.”  “To be sure, the story of Hurricane Katrina does have a moral for anyone not deliberately blind. The races are different. Blacks and whites are different. When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western Civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears. And in a crisis, it disappears overnight.” [Jared Taylor, American Renaissance, October 2005]

Gaffney was Banned from the Conservative Political Action Committee

The Conservative Political Action Committee banned Gaffney from future events after his wild claim that two CPAC board members were aiding the Muslim Brotherhood. “Then there was Gaffney’s 2011 claim that two board members of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) were secretly aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, proving that even potential right-wing allies are not safe from his vitriol. Gaffney’s evidence was predictably flimsy — board member and anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist’s wife is Palestinian-American, while board member Suhail Khan is a Muslim. Both were political appointees in the George W. Bush administration with long experience in conservative Republican Party affairs. Calling the accusations reprehensible, CPAC banned Gaffney from participating in future events.” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]

Gaffney tried ban Grover Norquist from CPAC over his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  “But Frank Gaffney, head of the Center for Security Policy, is trying to ban Norquist from CPAC. He has launched an online petition demanding that the American Conservative Union, which puts on CPAC, get rid of Norquist because he allegedly has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Gaffney, who is committed to raising the alarm about what he sees as the growing influence of Islam in American politics, has unsuccessfully been trying to get Norquist banned for years. In addition to Norquist, Gaffney has called for the removal of Suhail Khan, a former official in the administration of former President George W. Bush who serves on the ACU’s board. ‘Both Norquist and Khan have had relationships with a bevy of individuals with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood … that make their participation in the American Conservative Union anathema to the organization’s supposed vision. It behooves true conservatives, Republicans–and, indeed, the American people as a whole-to resist such subversive operations and to expose and counter those who enable them,’ Gaffney writes in his anti-Norquist petition.”  [Huffington Post, 3/5/14]

• Gaffney was invited by Breitbart and executive Stephen Bannon to participate in “The Uninvited” panel featuring a number of anti-Islam speakers as an alternative to CPAC. “Therefore, in his honor, the Breitbart News Network put on a panel called ‘The Uninvited’ to feature topics and speakers otherwise absent from the CPAC agenda. Breitbart News CEO Larry Solov and Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon compiled an ambitious slate of foreign policy experts and activists, as well as a discussion of the cronyism that has turned our nation’s capital into a boomtown…The final hour of the program was devoted to a panel on radical Islam at home and abroad featuring Rosemary Jenks of Numbers USA, Dan Gouré of the Lexington Institute, The Hudson Institute’s Nina Shea, Frank Gaffney of Center for Security Policy, Jihad Watch blogger Robert Spencer, and Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs.” [Center for Security Policy, 3/18/13]

• Gaffney served as a moderator for Breitbart’s second “Uninvited” panel in 2014. “In 2014, Breitbart organized a full-blown conference, ‘The Uninvited II: National Security Action Summit,’ where Gaffney served as a moderator. The Summit took place at a hotel down the street from the 2014 CPAC conference in D.C., and featured anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant speakers as well as politicians, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), speaking on panels with titles like, ‘Amnesty and Open Borders: The End of America – and the GOP,’ and ‘Benghazigate: The Ugly Truth and the Cover-up.’” [SPLC, accessed 11/16/16]