Kansas Republican group defends decision to invite speaker who compared Islam to cancer
The organizer of a Republican event in western Kansas has defended the choice of an anti-Muslim keynote speaker — who compared Islam to cancer — at a gathering that will feature multiple candidates for the U.S. Senate and House later this month.
The Dodge City Republican Expo on June 27 will include appearances by three U.S. Senate candidates — Rep. Roger Marshall, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Johnson County Commissioner Dave Lindstrom — and a debate between two candidates to succeed Marshall in the heavily Republican 1st Congressional District, former Lt. Governor Tracey Mann and Finney County Commissioner Bill Clifford.
It will also feature a speech by John Bennett, a former Oklahoma state representative who called for the removal of U.S. mosques in 2017. He is now vice president of Understanding The Threat, a group that offers training to police departments on how “to dismantle the Marxist/communist and jihadi networks inside the United States,” according to its website.
The national and Kansas offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are calling on Kansas Republican leaders to cancel Bennett’s Dodge City appearance. The group is classified as an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
”The Kansas Republican Party, its affiliates and the United Wireless Arena should not provide a legitimizing platform for a disgraced anti-Muslim hate group leader like John Bennett to spread his message of bigotry,” CAIR’s Director of Government Affairs Robert S. McCaw said in a Friday statement.
The group’s hate message is not restricted to Muslims. According to CAIR, the founder of Understanding the Threat, former FBI agent John Guandolo, called Black Lives Matter a communist organization during a radio interview last week and said “we should round up the leaders and execute them for trying to revolt and overthrow the government.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office canceled a scheduled training from the group in 2014 at the urging of CAIR’s Kansas chapter.
Bennett has previously compared Islam to cancer and distributed a questionnaire to Muslim students asking them to answer if they beat their wives before he would agree to meet with them.
Laura Tawater, the president of the Wild West Republican Women’s Club and the 1st District Republican vice chair who organized the expo, has rejected the request to cancel Bennett.
“We look forward to having John Bennett with Understanding The Threat come out and speak to Kansas Republicans about the threat of communism in our country. He will be talking about the current riots and its connection to the communist and Islamic movement and their strategic plan to subvert America,” Tawater said in an email Monday.
She noted Bennett’s background as a Marine veteran and sponsor of legislation to enable the 10 Commandments to be displayed at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
“It is a shame how much backlash and ridiculous demands we receive from groups who are outraged by us practicing free political speech that differs from theirs. We believe we are doing the right thing and will continue to move forward.”
Vicki Hiatt, the Kansas Democratic chair, called on the GOP candidates attending the expo to condemn Understanding The Threat’s hateful rhetoric.
“During a time when the nation is calling for institutional change, the Kansas GOP is actively condoning inflammatory, Islamophobic rhetoric by hosting a noted hate group at their Republican Expo,” Hiatt said.
Shannon Golden, the executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, stressed that the state party did not organize the event, which was planned by the Wild West Republican Women’s Club, but the party supports the event and will have representatives present.
Marshall’s campaign declined to comment.
Kobach, on the other hand, said Friday within minutes of CAIR’s release, that he disputed the Southern Poverty Law Center’s classification of the group as anti-Muslim.
Kobach has frequently faced criticism from the Southern Poverty Law Center related to his association with hardline groups that want to restrict immigration.
“The mere fact the SPLC dislikes someone means nothing. The SPLC has slandered hundreds of conservatives including me and President Trump over the past two decades,” Kobach said. “I do not know anything about the speaker but I do know the SPLC traffics in lies about conservatives to advance its radical leftwing agenda.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 1:42 PM.
