US senator defends anti-Islam remarks after criticism from Democrats

WASHINGTON

Republican US Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Friday defended his anti-Islam remarks after they drew criticism from Democrats.

"Democrats are calling me a 'racist' for speaking the truth about Radical Islam. But it isn’t a race. It is a death cult that teaches its followers to kill Americans," Tuberville wrote on US social media company X.

Several Senate Democrats, including Chris Murphy, slammed Tuberville on Thursday after he targeted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as "the enemy" in a social media post, alongside two images -- one from the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, and one of Mamdani.

Mamdani, the city's first Muslim mayor, hit back at Tuberville, urging politicians to focus on domestic issues affecting Americans.

"When I hear such hatred and disdain unchecked in its rancor, I feel a loneliness and isolation that I know many of you have felt as well," Mamdani said at an iftar event, or fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The US Council of Muslim Organizations, a coalition of leading national Muslim organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), will host its annual Hill Days from April 20 - 21 in Washington, DC, where Muslim community leaders and advocates from across the country will meet with members of Congress.

They will address key policy priorities, including supporting policing reform, protecting voting rights, countering Islamophobia, defending civil rights and advocating for human rights abroad, including the rights of Palestinians.