The White House has joined civil rights groups in condemning hateful anti-Muslim attacks on circuit court nominee Adeel Mangi — calling out GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tom Cotton of Arkansas specifically.
Mangi, who is Pakistani American, would be the first Muslim federal appeals court judge if confirmed.
“Mr. Mangi has been subjected to uniquely hostile attacks, in a way other nominees have not — precisely because of his Muslim faith,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to NBC News on Friday. “Senators Cruz, Hawley, and Cotton owe Mr. Mangi an apology.”
“He represents the best of America, and when confirmed, Mr. Mangi will not only make history — he will make an outstanding judge,” Bates said in the statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has also condemed the three GOP senators who, during a Senate hearing on Mangi’s nomination late last year, questioned him “about numerous issues unrelated to him and judicial service, including the 9/11 attacks, the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, policy issues related to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and false claims of antisemitism,” CAIR said.
Further, the right-wing Judicial Crisis Network launched digital ads this past week falsely accusing Mangi of links to proponents of global terrorism, CAIR said.
“The attack ad targeting Mr. Mangi is dishonest, disgusting and brimming with anti-Muslim bigotry,” said CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, in a statement Friday. “Insinuating that an accomplished American Muslim attorney is a terrorist sympathizer is classic Islamophobia, despicable, and must be condemned.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which combats antisemitism, has also spoken out against what it called “the inappropriate and prejudicial treatment” of Mangi.
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