CAIR slams Elon Musk for ‘baseless’ comment on American Muslim groups
WASHINGTON (AA) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday for a comment on X that it says fuels Islamophobia and endangers American Muslim communities.
The criticism came after Musk appeared to support a post labeling Muslim and Arab-American groups as “terrorist organizations.”
In his comment, Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump, said: “As many people have said, why pay terrorist organizations and certain countries to hate us when they’re perfectly willing to do it for free?”
Responding to Musk’s remarks, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote: “Elon, baselessly labeling law-abiding American Muslim organizations as ‘terrorist’ is reckless and dangerous.
“This kind of rhetoric fuels Islamophobia, endangers innocent lives, and undermines the values of justice and equality. Do better,” he said.
The post Musk replied to contained a list of organizations funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), including American Near East Refugee Aid, the Arab American Institute, the Islamic Relief Agency, InterAction and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
The post said that USAID has given more than $164 million “to terrorist linked organizations,” and thanked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which it said “discovered all of this insanity.”
In a statement, the Muslim advocacy group said the Muslim American and Arab American organizations smeared in the post are registered nonprofit organizations.
“In fact, many of these nonprofits partnered with the government or received federal support during the first Trump administration,” said the statement.
“Anyone who sees the word ‘Islam’ in the name of an American charity and then immediately declares that the charity must be a ‘terrorist organization’ is a hateful person who must know next to nothing about American Muslims and their contributions to our society, including humanitarian work,” it said.
The group also criticized Musk for spreading misinformation while ignoring other issues. “When will @elonmusk stop defaming Americans and start calling out the billions in American taxpayer dollars that the Israeli government has used to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza?”
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