For the second time in weeks, an anti-Muslim hate group have said they are planning to hold an event at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is holding its annual Flame Dinner fundraising event at Trump's resort on November 23. As reported by the Palm Beach Post, tickets for the event are being sold for $650.
CSP are described by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a former respectable think-tank turned "conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement" in the U.S.
The group's founder, Frank Gaffney, is a known conspiracy theorist who suggested that former president Barack Obama was Muslim, following his trips to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
"The man now happy to have his Islamic-rooted middle name featured prominently has engaged in the most consequential bait-and-switch since Adolf Hitler duped Neville Chamberlain over Czechoslovakia at Munich," Gaffney wrote in an article for the Washington Times in 2009.
"There is mounting evidence that the president not only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights group in the U.S., is once again calling on the Trump Organization to cancel an event at the club.
Earlier this month, the Trump Organization said an event due to be held by ACT for America, listed as an anti-Muslim hate group by the SPLC, would "absolutely not be taking place" at Mar-a-Lago after news of the event broke.
"The Trump Organization made the right decision to cancel a previous event hosted by an anti-Muslim hate group, and we call them to do so again," CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said in a statement.
"The President of the United States should not profit from a group that makes its money by demonizing an entire faith and whose founder traffics in widely-debunked conspiracy theories, including that former President Obama is Muslim and that mosques want to destroy western civilization from within."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said Gaffney also believes other erroneous theories such as the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating the U.S. government. Gaffney has also frequently opposed the building of mosques in America.
"While there are a number of right-wing figures who claim that American Muslims are trying to undermine the United States, Gaffney has undue influence," the ADL added. "His anti-Muslim allegations and studies have been cited by politicians. Thanks to his think tank and conference appearances, Gaffney's theories reach a relatively wide audience."
CSP are reported to have received a permit to host their dinner two days before ACT for America's event at Mar-a-Lago was canceled.
Speaking to The Palm Beach Post, CSP's president and CEO Fred Fleitz said he has no fears the group's fundraiser will also be called off.
"We are honored to have this event at Mar-a-Lago," said Fleitz, adding he has attended the club several times before.
Neither the Trump Organization, CSP nor Mar-a-Lago immediately responded to a request for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
