Extracts: US Muslim leaders who supported Republican Donald Trump to protest against the Biden administration's support for Israel's war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon have been deeply disappointed by his cabinet picks, they tell Reuters
Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the “Abandon Harris” campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump said,
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"Trump won because of us and we're not happy with his secretary of state pick and others"
Strategists believe, Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins
Marco Rubio
Trump picked Republican senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel, for Secretary of State Earlier this year, Rubio said, he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that he believed,
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Israel should destroy "every element" of Hamas "These people are vicious animals"
Mike Huckabee
Trump also nominated Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor as the next ambassador to Israel Huckabee is a staunch pro-Israel conservative who backs Israeli occupation of the West Bank and has called,
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a two state solution in Palestine "unworkable"
Elise Stefanik
Trump has picked Republican Representative Elise Stefanik to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations Stefanik called the UN for its condemnation of deaths in Gaza,
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a "cesspool of antisemitism"
Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN) said Muslim voters had hoped Trump would choose cabinet officials who work toward peace and there was no sign of that
Nazarko said
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"We are very disappointed"
"It seems like this administration has been packed entirely with neoconservatives and extremely pro-Israel, pro-war people which is a failure on the side of President Trump, to the pro-peace and anti-war movement"
Nazarko added the community would continue pressing to make its voices heard about ending the war in Gaza
