Ted Cruz and RFK Jr. declare war on Islamism at GOP convention

There was plenty of 'red meat' served up at the Republican National Committee’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, this week. But two speeches stood out for going directly at an issue many politicians prefer to discuss in vague, carefully worded language. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t hold back and they surely didn’t sanitize it.

They called out Islamism – the political ideology that seeks to impose Islamic rule over government and society, often at the expense of religious freedom, individual rights and Western democratic values. Their bluntness was a sight to behold.

Cruz delivered a sharp warning, arguing that the Democratic Party is being overtaken by what he described as a coalition between communists and Islamists. “We are witnessing a new and dangerous red-green alliance,” Cruz told the crowd. He went on to explain how those two forces are united by common enemies: Christianity, Judaism, capitalism, the Constitution and the United States itself.

“They hate Christians, they hate Jews, they hate capitalism, they hate the Constitution, and they hate America,” Cruz bellowed from the podium.

Cruz went on to connect the historic brutality of both communist and Islamist regimes, saying, “Islamism likewise produces murder and oppression,” pointing to compulsory hijabs, the stoning of rape victims, the murder of homosexuals, honor killings, Oct. 7 and 9/11.

Then came the line that brought the argument home: “Sharia law has no place in America.” And he wasn’t finished. “Sharia Law is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution and we need to stand together and stop it now.”

“A simple truth: when people tell you who they are, believe them. When Hasan Piker says 'America deserved 9/11,' he means it. When Mamdani says he wants to 'seize the means of production,' he means it. When Abdul El Sayed says he has an 'obligation' to comply with Sharia law, he means it. And when James Talarico says he wants to 'dismantle capitalism,' he means it.”

As for RFK Jr., Kennedy approached the subject from a different direction, but he landed in much the same place. Speaking about his family’s long connection to Israel, he said earlier generations of Democrats understood the Jewish state not only as a moral cause but as a strategic bulwark against radical ideology.

Kennedy described Israel as “America’s most critical frontline ally in fighting the toxic ideology of Islamism” – an ideology, he said, waging an “existential war against our country and against Western liberal democracy.” He argued that Islamism has enslaved and impoverished both Palestinians and Iranians, and that the radical Islamists openly threaten to inflict the same fate on Americans.

For decades, support for Israel was deeply embedded in the Democratic Party. RFK Jr.'s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, strengthened the U.S.-Israel relationship, while his father, Robert F. Kennedy, was a vocal supporter of the Jewish state. RFK Jr.’s larger point was that today’s Democratic Party has drifted far from that tradition.

The unified message by both Cruz and Kennedy was clear: the alliance between the radical left and political Islam is a real threat and Israel stands on the front lines defending against it. The broader freedoms of Western civilization are at stake.

Their speeches also arrived on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, so naturally, the timing gave the warnings added weight. A quarter-century after Islamist terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people on American soil, Cruz’s message was that the ideology behind such terror did not disappear with Osama bin Laden. It has simply taken different forms – and is growing in America.

One other separate but related note from the Republican National Convention this week: The crowd also heard from Ronen and Orna Neutra, whose dual U.S.-Israeli son, Omer, was killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose body was later returned from Gaza. They credited President Donald Trump with keeping his promise and bringing home all the hostages, both living and deceased.

But for the Neutras, bringing the hostages home was not the end of the mission. “Bringing them home is only part of the mission,” they said, calling for those responsible for Oct. 7 to never again carry out such an attack. ⁠

Islamism can sound like an abstract term tossed around by politicians and policy experts, but the Neutra family showed what it looks like in practice. Their son was murdered by the very ideology that Cruz and RFK Jr. were warning about. Grieving parents are left in the wake of a terrorist movement that celebrates the slaughter of innocent people.

Cruz and RFK Jr. led the charge against Islamism this week in Dallas. Will others be just as bold and follow suit?