Factsheet: Gen. Michael Flynn

IMPACT: Gen. Michael Flynn, who asserts that “fear of Muslims is rational,” spreads falsified claims about Muslims, and supports a group considered by many to be an anti-Muslim organization, serves in Donald Trump’s cabinet as National Security Advisor.

Michael Flynn is a retired Lieutenant General, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and was named National Security Advisor by President-elect Trump in November 2016. His cabinet appointment is no subject to congressional confirmation.

As USA Today reports, Flynn has been “a critical force shaping Trump’s world view that the United States is at war with ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’” In mid-2016, Flynn published a book, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies. Flynn has repeatedly insisted the U.S. is at “war” with “radical Islam.”

Flynn serves on the board of ACT for America, a group run by Brigitte Gabriel that campaigned against teaching about Islam in school textbooks, and supported anti-Sharia bills in many states. ACT for America, considered an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), expressed optimism about their “direct line” to the White House through Flynn.

Flynn voiced the falsified claim that Democrats are helping to “impose Sharia law” in America. ACT for America, the group Flynn advises, was part of a broader campaign to engender concern around sharia in recent years.

In February 2016, Flynn tweeted “fear of Muslims is rational” with an attached Youtube video which claims Islam “wants 80% of humanity enslaved or exterminated” and includes a litany of violent attacks carried out by Muslims. As of his appointment to the Trump administration, he had not removed the tweet.

Flynn has referred to Islam as a “political ideology based on a religion,” and said “it’s like a malignant cancer.” In July 2016, he tweeted that Arab and Persian leaders to “declare their Islamic ideology sick and must B healed [sic].” In his book, he called the Muslim world a “spectacular failure.”

Flynn shared on Twitter a picture of Hillary Clinton wearing a headscarf. He wrote: “This is not showing respect. This is showing disrespect for American Values and Principles. #NeverHillary.” Flynn also tweeted about a controversial Atlantic article that argued the Islamic State group is “very Islamic,” and about Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s view that Islam should be reformed.

Flynn also encouraged his followers to watch a video about Islam by Youtube commentator Pat Condell, who has said that Islam is a “religion of war.” Flynn commented: “Does it really have nothing to do with islam [sic]?”

In an interview with Breitbart radio in 2016, Flynn claimed that Arabic signs had been posted along the US-Mexico border to direct “radicalized Muslims” into the US.

Last Updated January 6, 2017