by: Jessica Reaves
November 10, 2016
As the world weighs in on the results of the U.S. presidential election, media groups associated with foreign terrorist organizations are adding their voices as well.
Several propaganda outlets are exulting in Donald Trump’s victory, expressing hope that he will lead the U.S. toward destruction. Some hope he will force Muslims to choose extremism over a hostile West. Others have taken a more moderate stance, claiming that there is no difference between any Western or American politicians and speculating that a Trump victory, therefore, means a continuation of the status quo. Many of the statements expressed all three ideas simultaneously.
As is often the case in Islamic extremist propaganda, almost all of the reactions include anti-Semitic stereotypes, as well as calls for the destruction of the U.S.
Translations for several of the statements below are via the SITE Intelligence Group.
Examples of statements claiming that the election makes no difference and asserting that the West is evil no matter who is elected:
- ISIS’s Nashir media: “The American Presidency is nothing more than a façade or a device that represents the role of the president,” the statement read. Alleging Jewish control of politics, it went on, “Everyone should know that the American President is a mule for the Jews, and that the American people are the slaves of the Jews.” The job of the president is to collect money and taxes, and offer troops to protect the Jews.”
- ISIS’s Nimr al-Khilafah media: “They only change the façade. Trump, Bush and Obama are only puppets. Those who manipulate these puppets change them from time to time in order to adopt another method and then they attribute it to those fools.”
Examples of statements expressing hope that the results will bring about the destruction of the West:
- ISIS’s Nashir media: “What we want is that their country be delivered to a donkey like Trump who will destroy it…The election of Trump is but an indication of the end of the American empire, so that it draws its last breath at the hands of this fool.”
- ISIS’s Al-Fajr media: “He will send more naval and air fleets, all of which will incur a lot of costs to America’s fragile budget. The more America loses, the more agitated Trump will become. He will be forced to send more troops and America will incur more losses in equipment and money….So rejoice with support from Allah, and find glad tidings in the imminent demise of America at the hands of Trump.”
- Pro-Al Qaeda Al-Maqalaat Publications: “On 9-11 the US was struck with disaster at the hands of Al-Qaedah (sic). On 11-9 the US was struck with disaster at the hands of their own voters.
- Pro-Al Qaeda Al-Muwahideen Media: “9/11 was the beginning of the renaissance of the Muslim nation. 11/9 will be the beginning of the fall of the Satan (America) of this age.”
Examples of statements hoping the results will force Western Muslims to side with extremists:
- ISIS’s Nashir media: “His victory has revealed the hidden hatred in the West…the West has shown its true identity,” and, “There is no center, it is either here or there” – meaning, with ISIS or against Islam.
- ISIS’s Al-Fajr media: “The more America assaults Muslims anywhere on earth, the more hatred and hostility there will be against it. The fervent for their faith and honor will look for those who will take revenge against America, and they will only find the State of the Caliphate.”
- ISIS’s Umar al-Damyatti media: “He may be the means to reveal the deviation in their hearts, their turning away from the cause of Allah, and the essence of their hostility. Indeed, that is better for the Islamic state.”
- Pro-Al Qaeda Al-Maqalaat Publications: “Trump will make the US enemy number one again in the Middle-East with his Bush-like stupidity. This will unite the Mujahid (fighter) ranks inshaAllah (God willing).”
Many of these sentiments were also expressed in advance of the election, as were calls for Muslims to boycott the democratic process altogether. An ISIS publication titled “The Murtadd (apostate) Vote,” released last week by ISIS’s Al Hayat media center, suggested that any candidate for office is essentially the same. It stated, “Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would undoubtedly do just as their predecessors had done before them…the only differences between Trump and Clinton are that Clinton is more skilled in “political correctness,” giving her leverage in the sorcery of hypocrisy, that she is a female feminist…and that Trump is impulsive and unpredictable.”
It also noted that Muslims were more likely to support Clinton than Trump, noting that, “As for their stances on ‘Islam’ and the ‘Muslims,’ then Clinton’s doublespeak is meant to spellbind nationalist ‘Muslims’ and liberal ‘Islam,’ …thereby leading more Muslims astray towards apostasy.” That publication ended in a call to kill voters: “As it is clear that the voter is a part of the taghut (rebellion against God) of Democracy…and that the voters are directly involved in the decision making-process…the blood of Crusader voters is even more deserving of being spilled than the blood of Crusader combatants.”
Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban took a different approach. Its statement reacting to the election simply expressed its desire for the U.S. to instate a policy of isolationism and, ”withdraw all their troops from Afghanistan.”
The sentiments expressed by extremist media outlets are also being echoed by their supporters across social media.