Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the US has added ‘fuel to the fire’ of Islamophobic attacks in Florida

Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the US has added ‘fuel to the fire’ of Islamophobic attacks in Florida

Two more prominent positions in Donald Trump’s administration were confirmed by his transition team Friday as the Attorney General and CIA Director roles were filled by Washington players who will send a shudder through the USA’s 3.3m-strong Muslim community.

The president-elect has chosen Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general and Tea Party figure, Kansas Republican representative Mike Pompeo, to be CIA director. The positions were confirmed by the New York Times and Reuters.

In 2013, after the Boston Marathon bombing, Pompeo accused Muslim leaders of encouraging terrorism rather than condemning it.

In 2010, Pompeo’s campaign tweeted a link from the congressman’s account asking his followers to read a blog post that used a racial epithet against his Indian American political opponent and called President Barack Obama an “evil muslim communist USURPER.” Pompeo blamed the tweet on a staffer.

In 2013, Senator Jeff Sessions questioned why the National Endowment for the Humanities was spending public money to put 900 books educating people about Islam into libraries across the US. He also questioned books on tackling topics such as ‘What is the meaning of life?’, ‘Why are we interested in the past?’ and ‘Why are bad people bad?’