More than 50 nonprofit organizations are calling on President-elect Donald Trump to drop retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.
“General Flynn’s appointment as National Security Advisor is a frightening prospect for anyone who values America’s national security and ability to promote stability and prosperity around the globe. We call on you to rescind it immediately,” the group wrote in a letter to Trump on Monday.
The letter was signed by 53 nonprofits, including liberal groups J Street and MoveOn.Org.
The group blasted Flynn for his “Islamophobic statements” and for peddling “anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.”
“He has written that ‘fear of Muslims is rational’ and said that ‘Islam is a political ideology’ and ‘a cancer’ that ‘hides behind being a religion,’ and continuously peddles the nonsensical fear of ‘Shariah law’ spreading in the United States,” the letter reads.
“On social media, he shared a blatantly anti-Semitic tweet. General Flynn’s repugnant statements show a lack of respect for the rights and dignity of Muslims and make him unfit for this post.”
Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who has served as his chief of staff, have been widely criticized this week for sharing anti-Hillary Clinton conspiracy theories on social media. The younger Flynn defended one viral fake news story that drove a gunman to target a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant on Sunday.
The group acknowledged Flynn’s opposition to the nuclear agreement with Iran that was passed last year but condemned his call for regime change in the rogue nation as “reckless and incendiary.”
“His appointment will send a dangerous signal to all parties to the agreement and the entire world that the United States cannot be counted on to adhere to its obligations under this or other vital international agreements,” the advocacy groups wrote.