Joint Statement by J Street and the Muslim Public Affairs Council on Rejecting Islamophobic Rhetoric Ahead of Midterm Elections

Washington, DC – J Street and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) are angered and deeply disturbed by the unprecedented levels of anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the federal government in the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections. The pattern of hateful, Christian nationalist speech and fearmongering against Muslim candidates and American Muslims directly endangers these Americans, as well as American Jews and all minority groups in the United States. The following recent statements by senior administration officials and members of Congress illustrate the extent of such rhetoric:

• Sen. Bernie Moreno said that those who don’t believe “Jesus came here for our salvation” are unfit for public office. This deplorable statement targets not only Muslims, but also Jews and all other non-Christian religious groups.
• In a recent rally in Michigan, President Donald Trump called Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” who was “on the side of the terrorists,” before adding he would “have to go through a metal detector before going into the Senate.” 
• Sen. Ted Cruz referred to Abdul El-Sayed as a “jihadist leprechaun” and insinuated he has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Sen. Cruz continued that if El-Sayed is elected and put on the Senate Intelligence Committee, “and if I am correct that he is a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result."
• During a Fox News appearance, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin – a cabinet official entrusted with protecting the civil rights and security of all Americans – advanced the idea that Islam inherently permits and encourages deception, before declaring that Islam is "dangerous to the world" and "dangerous to the United States."
• U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently made bigoted remarks about Arabs and Muslims on a campaign trail in Michigan, stating, “There's 500 million Arabs in the world. They don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature.”

These statements raise the question of whether these Republican officials will protect the United States as a pluralistic democracy, including the participation of Muslims, Jews and other non-Christian Americans. Equally troubling is the limited public condemnation from major members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

We call on faith leaders and communal institutions across all religious groups to condemn this escalating, dangerous Islamophobic rhetoric from senior Republican officials, and commit to fighting hate in all its forms.

We are proud to stand together as Jewish and Muslim Americans against hate, regardless of the community under attack.