David Barton Gives Platform to Notorious Anti-Muslim Hysteric Who Hosted White Nationalist

Phony historian and religious-right pooh-bah David Barton and his sidekick Rick Green (who is seeking a seat on the Texas Supreme Court) hosted one of the country’s most notorious anti-Muslim hysterics on their radio program this week.

The WallBuilders Live! program Monday and Tuesday featured a discussion with Frank Gaffney, a man the Southern Poverty Law Center compares to the notorious Red-baiter Joseph McCarthy, the late senator from Wisconsin. From an SPLC brief on Gaffney:

If Frank Gaffney Jr. had his way, average hard-working Americans of the Muslim faith would be dragged before Congress to face such questions as, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood?” In Gaffney’s mind, America is in peril, and bringing back the notorious Cold War-era House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) would expose the subversives he imagines are working to implement Shariah religious law throughout the land.

The SPLC notes that Gaffney’s “wild-eyed accusations,” “smears” and “innuendo” have led to condemnation from even GOP leaders like Sen. John McCain and then-House Speaker John Boehner. According to the SPLC, in 2011 Gaffney made the outrageous claim that a top aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was part of a clandestine “Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy.” That same year the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) banned Gaffney from its national event because of his smears targeting prominent conservatives he suggested were tied to a broad Islamic conspiracy to undermine America.

Unfortunately, some prominent conservative and Republican congressional leaders have supported Gaffney and his hateful rants. More from the SPLC brief:

Gaffney’s scurrilous broad-brush tactics have a serious effect on the lives of all Muslims in America, from students and housewives to corporate executives and budding politicians. A shadow of unfounded suspicion follows even the most upright Muslim citizens, growing cumulatively each time Gaffney feeds new “intelligence” to congressional allies such as Reps. [Michele) Bachmann and Peter King.

Gaffney’s agenda is so extreme that, according to the SPLC, he even hosted a white nationalist on his own radio program. From the SPLC brief:

Gaffney’s campaign against Syrian refugees [in 2015] has prompted him to seek out more radical allies. In September, Gaffney invited white nationalist Jared Taylor on his radio show to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis. Taylor is one of the most outspoken white nationalists in America today. Following the murder of nine African Americans in Charleston this summer, Taylor was appointed spokesperson by the white nationalist group Council of Conservative Citizens, the group alleged perpetrator Dylann Roof cited as his gateway into white nationalism. In 2005 for example, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Taylor wrote, “When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western Civilization—any kind of civilization—disappears.” During the interview, Gaffney called Taylor’s vile American Renaissance website “wonderful,” and asked, “Is it the death of Europe what we’re seeing at the moment in terms of this migration, this invasion?” After a number of watchdog groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote about Taylor’s appearance on Secure Freedom Radio, Gaffney backtracked, and attempted to bury the evidence by scrubbing the Taylor interview from his site and claimed he was “unfamiliar” with Taylor’s views before inviting him on.

Taylor’s own website shows that his association with the Council of Conservative Citizens goes back years. But Gaffney used Taylor to promote his own agenda.

Now it seems Barton and Green are helping Gaffney promote his agenda on their radio program. Shameful.