Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis marked the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as “foreign terrorist organizations” in an executive order on Monday, just weeks after Texas’s governor did the same.
DeSantis shared the memo, complete with his stamp of approval on his X account, which he said was “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”
“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis wrote.
In the executive order, DeSantis asserted, without proof, that the Muslim Brotherhood — a transnational Sunni Islamist group founded in Egypt with offshoots that have been linked to past violent attacks — was attempting to establish “a world-wide Islamic caliphate” and accused it of having direct links to Hamas.
DeSantis also claimed that CAIR, one of the largest Muslim civil rights groups in the US, was “designated an unindicted co-conspirator” as part of “the largest terrorism-financing case in American history.”
CAIR has repeatedly denied having any financial links to Hamas or any other terrorist group.
On Nov. 18, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also labeled CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations.
DeSantis’ order echoes Abbott’s almost verbatim, save for the Lone Star leader’s brazen assertion that the Islamic organizations were seeking to impose Shariah law in America and “establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’”
Abbott ordered the state attorney general to “sue to shut [the organizations] down” in Texas.
“The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas,” Abbott wrote in his order.
CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are not listed as a terrorist group by the federal government. The Muslim Brotherhood has disavowed any violence linked to it, and today it helps fund and provide hospitals and schools in the Arab world, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
In a statement, CAIR wrote that it looks forward to “defeating Governor DeSantis’ latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight.”
“Like Greg Abbott in Texas, Ron DeSantis is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes,” CAIR added.
CAIR previously slammed Abbott’s declaration as “defamatory and lawless” and assured it would “not be intimidated by smear campaigns.”
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