Ted Cruz Goes After Trump Nominee — Takes Issue With Past Wild Statements: ‘Do You Continue to Believe Saddam Hussein Was a Martyr?’
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was one of the Republicans to grill Hamtramck, Michigan Mayor Amer Ghalib (D) about his past controversial statements about Jewish people and Saddam Hussein during a tense confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Cruz told Ghalib he would not be supporting his nomination to be ambassador of Kuwait by President Donald Trump, telling him at one point that his views on the Middle East stand in direct contradiction with the president’s policies.
During his time, Cruz questioned Ghalib about his past criticism of the Abraham Accords, his characterization of Saddam Hussein as a “martyr,” and praise for the Muslim Brotherhood. Ghalib said he was not a supporter of Trump before 2024 and he cited “bad habits” on social media when he was a private citizen, such as liking responses to his posts, even if they got hateful.
“Do you continue to believe Saddam Hussein was a martyr?” Cruz asked, citing a 2020 social media post from Ghalib.
The mayor noted he’d answered the question multiple times and that his reason for saying what he did was a larger point about Iran.
“I will clarify that. It was the day of January 7, 2020, when our military bases were attacked by Iran. And in a moment of anger because we didn’t respond,” Ghalib said.
“So I asked you about today. Do you continue to believe Saddam Hussein was a martyr?” Cruz asked for a second time.
“Senator, I don’t think that, no doubt that Saddam was a dictator, and I said earlier if this offended anybody who suffered from Saddam or lost a loved one, I apologize,” Ghalib said.
When pressed for a direct answer, the Trump nominee said, “It wouldn’t matter, he’s in God’s hand, he will get the treatment he deserves.”
Cruz then pivoted to another 2020 post in which Ghalib called the Muslim Brotherhood “inspirational.” Cruz noted he is pushing the Trump administration to designate the group a “terrorist organization.” Ghalib suggested some of his posts were “mistranslated” from Arabic.
“It’s an ideology. It’s not just a group of people. I disagree with a lot things that they do. Some of them are extremists. Some of the are part of some governments in the Middle East,” Ghalib stated.
“How would you be able to serve as an ambassador if President Trump designates the Muslim brotherhood as a terrorist organization? I have legislation to do that. I believe it is likely the Trump administration will designate the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organization,” Cruz shot back.
“I would trust the president, and if it’s designated, I will be committed to implement President Trump’s policies,” Ghalib explained.
“It appears you have a deep-felt and passionate view about the Middle East, but it is a view that is in direct conflict with the policy positions of President Trump and this administration,” Cruz noted before bringing up yet another social media post, one in which Ghalib liked a post calling Jewish people “monkeys for their own benefit.”
“Before I became the mayor, I used to have a bad habit of acknowledging every post, every comment under my post. Doesn’t mean that I agree with it, just acknowledging,” Ghalib said. “But there was a response under that that was not translated or interpreted that says, you can say this in your country, but not in this country, which means that I did not agree with that post, even though I acknowledge it. I know it was a bad habit. But let me be clear, I don’t agree with that statement and I treat everybody with respect in my official capacity.”
Watch above via CSPAN.
