ON TUESDAY, Rep. Rob Gibbs, R-Ohio, declined to endorse Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s call for law enforcement to preemptively “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”
Cruz’s statement came after this week’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, and was swiftly criticized by civil liberties activists and Muslim civil rights organization.
Speaking to The Intercept on Capitol Hill, Gibbs said that in response to the terror attacks, “We need to work with the Muslims because I think the majority of them are good people. … They need to be part of the solution.” Asked directly to respond to Cruz’s proposal, Gibbs said, “I don’t know what he’s thinking there. I think, hopefully, the Muslim community will come forward and work with the proper authorities, but we shouldn’t have a police state, no.”
Watch Gibbs’s remarks below:
Cruz attracted controversy last week over his decision to bring on a number foreign policy advisers with a long history of anti-Muslim bigotry, including Frank Gaffney, who has claimed that President Obama is the “first Muslim president” and that Muslim immigration into the United States represents a “civilization jihad.”
Cruz defended his proposal on CNN on Wednesday, noting that the New York Police Department had once pursued similar discriminatory strategies. He also blasted critics, saying, “Democrats are more concerned about political correctness than they are about keeping us safe, and that’s why people are so fed up.”
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
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IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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