https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-leading-muslim-supporter-000000039.html7/21/16
Donald Trump’s leading Muslim supporter may be an army of oneBy the time Sajid Tarar took the stage to deliver the closing benediction at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night, many delegates and members of the press had already begun filing out of Cleveland’s Quicken Loans arena.
Day two of the RNC had been an eventful one, with Donald Trump’s official nomination for the White House followed by speeches from his children and past political rivals like Ben Carson and Chris Christie.
But the arrival of perhaps the most unlikely speaker on the RNC dais, a 56-year-old Pakistani immigrant and Muslim Trump supporter, did not go unnoticed. According to reporters inside the venue, a single delegate was heard shouting “no Islam” as Tarar, clad in a silvery bow tie, addressed the crowd.
“Let’s pray,” Tarar said when he reached the podium. “Pray for a strong America, for a safe America. And let’s ask God to make us strong to fight terrorism all over the world.”
Muslim for Trump delivers closing night prayer at RNC
At the close of the second night of the Republican National Convention, Sajid Tarar of American Muslims for Trump delivered the closing prayer.
Other than maybe Mexicans, no group has been subjected to more attacks by the Trump campaign than Muslims. The Republican presidential nominee has accused Muslim-Americans of celebrating 9/11, claimed that “Islam hates America” and proposed a ban on Muslim travel to the U.S. — ramping up the rhetoric after each of the recent domestic and international terror attacks.
With each step closer to the White House, he’s picked up support for his controversial proposals. A recent example: After the terror attack in Nice, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (in a move seen as a last-ditch attempt to be chosen as running mate) proposed that all Americans “of a Muslim background” be required to undergo some sort of religious test, “and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported.”
Gingrich didn’t get the gig. But days before members of Republican National Committee would officially nominate Trump for the presidency, they approved a new provision to the party platform calling for “special scrutiny” of all non-U.S. citizens seeking to enter the country from “regions associated with Islamic terrorism.”
In response to a request for more information on how Tarar was chosen for the benediction, a spokesperson for the convention’s planning committee referred Yahoo News to Trump’s press secretary, who could not be reached for comment.
It’s not hard to imagine why Tarar — a vocal supporter Trump’s more controversial proposals, including the Muslim travel ban — would be invited.
As Tarar himself explained in an interview with CNN Tuesday night, he had come to the RNC to show the rest of America that all Muslims “are not bad people.”
“We are living here, we are part of American fabric,” he said. “And we will stand behind America. The safety of America is our No. 1 priority as well.”
But a spokesperson for the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a prominent Muslim advocacy organization that has consistently denounced Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric, said Tarar does not speak for the majority of the community.
“The majority of American Muslims reject [trump’s] hostile attitudes toward the Muslim community and his proposals,” said Robert McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director.
McCaw expressed mixed feelings over Tarar’s appearance at the RNC.
On the one hand, “We’re happy to see the Republican National Convention include a Muslim speaker.”
At the same time, McCaw told Yahoo News he wished they’d picked someone else.
“It could be said the Trump campaign engaged in tokenism,” McCaw added, arguing that Tarar “has no actual position within the Muslim community that gives him leverage, therefore he doesn’t actually represent the views or interests of the Muslim community.”
McCaw described American Muslims for Trump as a “one-off organization that’s engaged in ‘astroturf’ politics.”
“They have no ground presence, no grassroots engagement,” he said, suggesting the group simply exists to give “Trump the coverage he needs to continue making bigoted remarks about the Muslim community.”
It’s unclear how big Tarar’s organization actually is — or whether it’s even much of an organization at all.
Most of the news coverage surrounding his RNC appearance refers to Tarar as the “founder of American Muslims for Trump,” yet a Google search yields little evidence that such a group exists, at least online.
A closed Facebook group called “American Muslims for Trump” boasts two members, neither of which are Tarar. There is also a separate Facebook community page titled “Muslims for Trump,” which has been “liked” by 581 people but names no specific creator.
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