A deeply antisemitic, pro-Hezbollah imam is set to give a benediction at Trump’s inauguration next Monday, and many Trump supporters who had been happy to see Trump’s repeated affirmations that he would support, not betray, America’s ally Israel are now scratching their heads. What’s going on? Was this just an oversight, a failure to vet the Dearborn Imam Husham al-Husainy properly? Or does it herald a real policy shift in the incoming Trump administration?
There are other signs of such a shift, with the chief among them being the fact that Israel and Hamas are close to a ceasefire in Gaza. Back in June 2024, Trump declared: “Let Israel finish the job in Gaza.” Yet back in Oct. 2023, not long after Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the goal of Israel’s war in Gaza was the “elimination of Hamas.” He has reiterated this more than once since then, making it clear that he will not consider “the job” to be finished until Hamas no longer exists as an organized group. Israel has rejected Biden regime ceasefire demands for the perfectly cogent reason that they would allow Hamas the chance to survive and regroup.
Now, however, Israel seems to have resigned itself to Hamas’ continued existence, as the New York Times reported that “Israel and Hamas are ‘on the brink’ of agreeing to declare a cease-fire in Gaza and release hostages held there, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Tuesday.” Not only is Hamas not eliminated, but it might even end up in the government of Gaza again once the war ends, contrary to repeated Israeli declarations that this must not and would not happen.
And now comes al-Husainy to give one of the four benedictions at Trump’s inauguration. Al-Husainy is an open supporter of Hezbollah who, back in 2006 at a Dearborn rally in support of the terrorist group, “held the picture of Hezbollah leader [Hassan] Nasrallah aloft on the stage.” Then in Feb. 2007, al-Husainy appeared on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes, where Sean Hannity asked him: “Will you admit that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, sir?” Al-Husainy answered: “That is your explanation.” Hannity pressed him: “This is a yes or no. Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization? Yes or no? Is Hezbollah...” Al-Husainy responded: “No.”
After that straight answer, however, al-Husainy equivocated, but he also signed a document in 2009 that stated: “We remind our sons to get ready to carry out their duty in Holy Jihad and continue the path which our young valiant men in Hezbollah began in Southern Lebanon.” And he has demonstrated his support for Hezbollah in word and deed since then.
Al-Husainy also apparently supports Sharia. In Sept. 2012, as controversy raged over the video criticizing Muhammad that was blamed for touching off the Benghazi jihad attack, al-Husainy called for legal restrictions on the freedom of speech: “They should put a law not to insult a spiritual leader. The only solution is to replace the hate with love.” Or else, apparently.
Al-Husainy, a Shi’ite, also opposes the Saudi royal family, which is Sunni; in Oct. 2019, he even charged the Sauds with being “agents of the Jews.”
So why is this antisemitic, pro-Hezbollah imam appearing at Trump’s inauguration? For his part, al-Husainy actually supports the once and future president. Under the misrule of Kamala Harris and the Democrats, al-Husainy said a few days before the election, “the boys will turn to girls and the girls will turn to a boy.”
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On that, Trump and al-Husainy do indeed see eye to eye. But why would Trump pick this controversial imam to appear at the inauguration? To be sure, imams who haven’t said something inflammatory or expressed support for a designated jihad terror group are decidedly thin on the ground, but al-Husainy may have been chosen in full knowledge of his nauseating record. Back at the beginning of December, Trump picked Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and the father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, to be his senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Reuters reported at that time that Boulos’ “father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.”
Is it possible that Massad Boulos shares his father-in-law’s support for Hezbollah, and thus saw no problem with al-Husainy’s pro-Hezbollah sentiments? Is Boulos behind al-Husainy’s appearance at the inauguration? Now that all of what is above and more has come out about al-Husainy, whoever is behind this should apologize, admit his or her mistake, and drop al-Husainy from the program. Unless, of course, we should see his appearance at the inauguration as a shift in Trump policy. Time will tell.
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