Brotherhood plans to get rid of Trump by supporting US street protests

Sarah Rashad

The recent protests in the United States against the killing of African-American citizen George Floyd by police brings up the issue of banning the terrorist Brotherhood organization.

Despite the divergence between the issue of racism igniting American society and the position of the US administration towards the Brotherhood, the terrorist group’s handling of the recent demonstrations has raised questions about the extent the Brotherhood threatens the United States.

While there is talk about the danger these demonstrations pose on the stability of American society and democracy, the Brotherhood has worked with organizations and associations to support the demonstrations, even calling them the “American Spring” in reference to the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011.

Online mobilization

The Brotherhood has paid public American figures affiliated with the group to mobilize the masses via the internet, using their social media accounts to support the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the relationship between the Brotherhood and US President Donald Trump, who has warned against the demonstrations, has been severely strained, as the president does not hesitate to declare his hostility to the group.

Before coming to power, Trump had promised to ban the terrorist group in the United States, and he has toyed with the idea more than once since winning the election in 2016.

Anxious Brotherhood

Because of these policies and attitudes, analysts have argued that the Brotherhood is concerned by Trump, unlike former President Barack Obama, who dealt with the logic of containing Islamist movements in general and the Brotherhood in particular.

Considering that the current demonstrations are the most severe crisis the Trump administration has gone through, negatively affecting his chances of winning a second term, it is easy to understand the reason behind the Brotherhood’s support and incitement of the demonstrations.

This reinforces the view of former Trump advisor Walid Phares that the Brotherhood should be banned in United States as a terrorist group that poses a threat to American society.

Consequently, the demonstrations could renew the hostility between Trump and the Brotherhood to the extent that the administration could ban the group prior to elections.

Stiff competition is expected in November between the Democrats and Republicans in the upcoming US elections, and reports say that Islamists, led by the Brotherhood, support Democratic candidate Joseph Biden.

Supporting Biden

Emirati newspaper Alroeya published a report entitled “Brotherhood Institutions’ Wager: Biden, the Brotherhood’s path to America, is loyal to them”, which said that “Islamist voices within America support Biden; not because he is a charismatic man, but because he is a leader who has no vision.”

It added that the Brotherhood fears Trump will win a second term, which could allow him to fulfill his promise to ban the group.

Through the Brotherhood’s relationship with some American politicians in the State Department and the Treasury, the group managed to block the issuance of a law banning them, but they have not been able to get Trump on their side so far, so they are trying to get rid of him.