Pro-Trump event in Michigan will feature numerous speakers with histories of anti-Muslim rhetoric
Written by Eric Hananoki
Published
The Trump-backed ReAwaken America tour is holding an event in Michigan this week that will feature numerous speakers with histories of anti-Muslim rhetoric. Those commentators have said that “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL,” bragged about helping Trump with his “Muslim ban,” and claimed that “Muslims are stockpiling weapons in Islamic centers.” They have claimed that “Islam is a terrorist organization,” that “Islam has been and remains the GREATEST threat to the Western Civilization,” and that ”Islam IS NOT our friend."
The ReAwaken America tour will be held in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on June 7 and 8. An online itinerary states that numerous Trump allies will speak at the event, including son Eric Trump; former Trump Defense Department official Kash Patel; former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani; RNC attorney Christina Bobb; Trump attorney Alina Habba; and longtime ally Roger Stone.
Tour host Clay Clark has specifically touted his events as closely tied to Trump, stating that “Eric Trump is a good friend of mine” and “it's exciting … that Trump's inner circle is now going, they're all reaching out to our tour, to the ReAwaken America tour, to Gen. Flynn, to myself, to Kash Patel. And they're all saying, hey, can we come to the tour?” During a promotional appearance last month, Clark said “Trump’s entire inner circle will be there” at the Michigan event.
The tour has heavily featured Christian nationalism, an ideology that claims the United States is a Christian nation and its government should align with Christianity.
Tour co-founder and disgraced former Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn has used the tour to advocate for the exclusion of some religions from American life and politics, stating during one ReAwaken America event: “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God.”
The ReAwaken tour has also been notable for featuring at least four Hitler-promoting antisemites.
Additionally, Media Matters previously reported that Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra has also been working for the anti-Muslim Gatestone Institute.
The following is a list of scheduled speakers and brief histories of them promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Mike Flynn: “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL”
Mike Flynn is the co-founder of the ReAwaken America tour and former national security adviser for Trump. The former president said last year that Flynn, who is now a commentator who regularly associates with the far-right fringe, would return to his administration if he wins in November.
Flynn said during a 2015 Fox News interview: “I've been at war with Islam, or a component of Islam, for the last decade.”
In 2016, he wrote: “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.”
He also said in 2016: “Islamism, it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised.”
Flynn has also pushed anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and affiliated with the anti-Muslim organization ACT for America.
Julie Green: “Muslim nations” are conspiring to “end” the United States
Julie Green is an alleged “prophet” who purports to deliver messages from God via her podcast and videos. She has a history of bizarre and extreme rhetoric, including stating that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “loves to drink the little children’s blood”; that the government is conducting “human sacrifices” to stay in power; and President Joe Biden is secretly dead and an “actor” is playing him.
In January 2022, she issued a prophecy suggesting that “China and Muslim nations” are conspiring “to end My America the Beautiful for your one-world government”:
I have hidden people on both sides to take down every word and every plan you all made: against each other; against this nation; and with all of your connections in China and Muslim nations to end My America the Beautiful for your one-world government. But I, the Lord, have seen this before you ever existed on this Earth and already had planned your destruction. Destroy My nations and My children? You dropped the ball. Because of your pride and arrogance, children of the biggest liar there is, you failed, you could never prosper and your plans were never going to work. It was all for nought. This year, all who were against Me will fall. All will be removed.
In February 2022, she issued a prophecy to people in India claiming that God will “destroy” Islam, which has “been plaguing your nation.”
India, oh India: How I love you. That which is going on in your nation, I will destroy with one move of My hand. I will not let them stand against you, so do not fear what you are seeing or experiencing. I am here, and I am moving in your land to deliver you. I will deliver you from the spirits that have kept your nation bound. Yes, I will destroy them, destroy their power and destroy the influences of Hinduism and Islam that have been plaguing your nation. The righteous cry out. I will deliver them out of it all. Yes, Christianity will reign in your nation for the first time. A cleansing. I am doing it now, so speak life into your nation. My hand is moving for you, and all will be different in your nation.
Rudy Giuliani: “Muslim ban” supporter
Rudy Giuliani is a podcaster and disgraced former mayor of New York City. He has recently been entangled in various legal issues, including a $148 million defamation lawsuit verdict related to his election denial.
Giuliani has a long history of anti-Muslim behavior. In 2017, he said that Trump wanted his help on instituting a “Muslim ban.” Giuliani stated: “So when [Trump] first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'"
Greg Locke: “Muslims #PeacefulMyFoot”
Greg Locke is a pastor and commentator who has spread election denial and QAnon-tied conspiracy theories.
Locke has claimed that “Islam is a terrorist organization that clearly teaches death to America,” that “ISLAM is an evil religion,” and “Islam IS NOT our friend.” He wrote last month: “The UK is about to experience some horribly dark days at the hands of Islam. If America doesn’t wake up, it’ll happen here as well. Islam is a poison that uses fear and control to destroy entire civilizations. There are ZERO exceptions to this historical fact.”
He also wrote: “There's only 2 kinds of people evil enough to viciously behead someone: 1. Sadistic psychopath serial killers 2. Muslims #PeacefulMyFoot.” Additionally, he has alleged that public schools are teaching Islamic indoctrination.
Jackson Lahmeyer: “Islam has been and remains the GREATEST threat to the Western Civilization”
Jackson Lahmeyer is a right-wing commentator who founded the group Pastors for Trump.
He has made anti-Muslim statements, including claiming that “Not all Muslims are terrorists BUT Islam does seem to have a monopoly on terrorism,” “Islam has been and remains the GREATEST threat to the Western Civilization,” and “Islam is a religion of violence.”
William Cook: “Muslims are stockpiling weapons in Islamic centers”
William Cook is the founder and CEO of the extremist group America's Black Robe Regiment. He has said that God will strike down the FBI agents who arrested January 6 insurrectionists and anyone “involved in election fraud.”
Cook has repeatedly posted anti-Muslim rhetoric.:
- He wrote in September 2016: “Very stupid country, GBR. About to fall to Islam. Good luck with that.”
- He wrote in October 2016: “Muslims are stockpiling weapons in Islamic centers and Hillary wants to eviscerate the Second Amendment with regulation.”
- He wrote in April 2017 after a terrorist attack in Paris: “Muslims are procreating at a much higher rate in France than the French. France, like the US, is losing the demographic battle.”
Cook’s organization America's Black Robe Regiment has also posted virulently anti-Muslim rhetoric.
- The organization wrote in 2014: “America's leaders naively assume that the majority of Muslims are not violent, which supports the flawed assumption that Islam is a religion of peace that has been hijacked by a fringe faction.”
- The organization wrote in 2017: “DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY ALREADY KNOWS, THAT NORTHERN VIRGINIA WILL BECOME A MUSLIM ENCLAVE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES? THIS ENEMY IS AT THE GATE! WAKE UP!”;
- The organization wrote in 2019 that the “The Muslim Community … seeks to conquer America.”