Today, Newsmax host J.D. Hayworth hosted a stimulating discussion about the so-called Islamic State with the Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney and Jack Burkman, a lobbyist and pundit who famously called for a “relentless” boycott of any NFL team that drafted openly gay player Michael Sam.
Burkman asked Gaffney “whether Obama just has no comprehension of foreign policy” or if “at a more sinister level, does he not see himself as representing the United States?”
“I think the president is of the view that Islam, not radical Islam, but the authoritative version of Islam is in fact a legitimate and desirable and, well, laudable enterprise,” Gaffney responded. “And there are many Muslims who would meet all of those tests. Unfortunately they don’t include, to my way of thinking, the authorities of Islam or those who are following their tenets.”
“The folks who believe in the traditions and institutions of Islam are, I’m afraid, part of the problem,” he continued. “To the extent the president is admiring of them and enabling of them, I think isn’t just a problem of not understanding what’s afoot here. I think it’s a deep sympathy for it. And it translates into an empowering and emboldening of the jihadists who are our mortal enemies.”
