How could Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump (R-N.Y.) possibly protect us from the very same terrorist group that is rooting for him to be our president?
Laith Alkhouri is a counterterrorism analyst and co-founder of the threat intelligence firm FlashPoint. He researches online networks which are used by terrorist groups and their supporters, and found that a Trump presidency appears to be a win-win situation for ISIS.
Jihadist supporters actually want to see Trump as the next President of the Unites States, he told Talking Points Memo, and this is why;
“They believe that while Trump is running for the highest office in the world potentially, he is somebody that they can mock, they can joke about, and in some manner they believe that this guy who, if anything, if anything, is advancing their agenda, instead of going against their agenda.”
They feel that Trump as POTUS will weaken the United States because he is a figure to be mocked.
At the same time, his negative attitude towards people of Muslim faith in general, along with his strongman promises to be more aggressive with the Islamic State, will trigger a counter move of stronger terrorist support, and unite jihadist sympathizers in their quest against the West.
According to TPM:
“People talk about ISIS not releasing anything about Trump, well clearly ISIS followers, or at least many of them, believe that Trump is the guy they would want to see in the White House.”
Among the sites Alkhouri analyzes is one dark web site he described as a “holistic jihadist web forum,” which also serves as an Islamic State speaker outlet.
There is a humorous meme which has circulated in social media of a homeless person in California holding a sign that says, “Give me $$$ or I will vote for Trump.”
A commenter in the jihadist web forum wrote,
“Even the American beggar knows the danger of Trump on the Americans.”
TPM’s article lists replies of how the Republican candidate will be a disaster to America as president,
“Trump’s governance will be the destroyer of America and its traitor Arab allies.”
Alkhouri was recently called in as an expert commentator by MSNBC after the Istanbul airport attacks, and explained that while they are mainly attacking Muslims, they view Turkey as a U.S. stronghold.
Obviously Trump is not knowingly allying himself with ISIS. It’s his military and diplomatic inexperience combined with his uneducated, and downright racist, statements we’ve seen over and over again that’s triggered this unfortunate situation.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and others predicted long ago this is a possible outcome if Trump is elected POTUS. Meanwhile, the world is watching. Alkhouri concluded,
“Jihadists are always up to date with what’s going on in American politics […] It’s a primary issue to keep tabs on, because, in one way or another, it affects the war on the Islamic State.”
Watch Laith Alkhouri discuss the recent Istanbul attacks on MSNBC here:
Featured Image:
