Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) twice blasted the Obama Administration for editing the words “Islamist terrorism” from public records, a scandal first uncovered and exposed by MRCTV.
In a Senate subcommittee hearing, entitled “Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts to Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism,” Cruz called out the Obama Administration for its pattern of censoring and omitting comments recognizing the role radical Islam plays in terrorism, as it did earlier this year when it scrubbed audio of the words “Islamist terrorism” from French Pres. Hollande’s comments at an event with Pres. Obama:
“This year alone, the Obama administration has twice purged mentions of ‘ISIS’ and ‘Islamic terrorism’ from highly significant public records—one involving French President Hollande’s remarks about the Paris terror attacks and the other involving the terrorist’s 911 call during the horrific Orlando attack. The Administration was forced to abruptly reverse course when the public outcry became too great.”
Indeed, the public outcry was great, as The Drudge Report, Fox News and other prominent media picked up the MRCTV story, prompting the White House to respond and post the unedited video of Pres. Hollande.
Cruz blamed the administration’s censorship of Hollande’s comment on “an Orwellian doublethink” mentality:
“We cannot combat and defeat radical Islamic terrorism without acknowledging it exists and directing our resources to stopping it. And an Orwellian doublethink that seeks to excerpt any reference to it, as the Administration did to the President of France, or erase pledges of allegiance to ISIS, as the Administration did with the Orlando terrorist, is counterproductive to keeping this country safe. That should be the number one obligation of the Commander-in-Chief. It should be the focus of this Administration, and the purpose of this subcommittee hearing is to assess the degree to which the Administration is willfully turning a blind eye to radical Islamic terrorism and the consequences for the safety and security of the American people.”
Citing more examples of censorship of references to radical Islam, including the Ft. Hood and Orlando shootings by radical Islamists, Cruz explained how the administration rebuked Homeland Security employees for even discussing radical Islam in their counter-terror efforts:
“Around the same time, the Homeland Security Advisory Council was admonishing DHS personnel in a report about countering violent extremism to ‘reject religiously-charged terminology’ such as ‘jihad,’ ‘Sharia,’ ‘takfir,’ and ‘umma.’”
“Does anyone notice a trend here?,” Cruz asked, adding that the Obama Administration’s refuse to recognize the threat of radical Islam has already cost American lives – and threatens to cost many more:
“Does anyone notice a trend here? A consistent effort by this Administration to scrub any reference to radical Islamic terrorism, to pretend that the threat does not exist. And tragically as a consequence of that, over and over again, we have instances where the Administration has ample evidence of radical Islamic terrorists. Whether it is the Boston bombers or Nidal Hasan. Whether it is the terrorists in San Bernardino or the terrorist in Orlando, the Administration has had, over and over again, ample evidence to step in and prevent these terror attacks, but the consequence of the willful blindness, of a policy that as a matter of Administration policy refuses to acknowledge the threat, means over and over again this Administration has allowed the threats to go forward.”