Donald Trump is being accused of exploiting a recent terror attack to advance his political agenda, according to a report by The Guardian. The attack, which occurred in New Orleans, involved Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen and U.S. Army veteran, who rammed a pick-up truck into a group of people, killing more than a dozen and injuring many others.
Trump quickly seized on an early, but later retracted, report that suggested Jabbar might have been an illegal immigrant. In the aftermath of the attack, the president-elect made several posts about border security but did not clarify or correct the misinformation. The Guardian reports that Republicans are now trying to exploit the New Orleans attack to push forward Trump’s political agenda, including his anti-immigration policies and controversial cabinet nominations.
According to the article, GOP figures are attempting to make a “baseless link between the attack and the US border” in order to argue that Trump’s cabinet nominees must be urgently confirmed. “Republicans in the US Senate are attempting to exploit the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans, while injuring dozens more, to push through Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominations and rocket-charge the incoming president’s anti-immigration agenda – despite the fact that the attacker was a US citizen born and raised in east Texas,” the report states.
The report also highlights that several Senate Republicans appeared on political shows over the weekend, calling for the swift approval of contentious cabinet nominees facing tough confirmation processes. These include Kash Patel, nominated for FBI director, Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
The article further claims that GOP lawmakers are arguing that “any delay in confirmation of the controversial cabinet picks would damage US national security.” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading Trump ally, echoed this sentiment, stating, “Do them now, do them quick, get them all done… We are under attack here – we are at war.”
This latest move by Trump loyalists comes amid growing concerns about the political motivations behind linking the New Orleans terror attack to immigration and national security issues.