Nearly twenty-five years after the 9/11 jihad attacks, the denial and willful ignorance regarding the nature and magnitude of the motivating ideology behind those attacks remains near-total. This is not because that ideology is obscure, or disputed, or hard to understand; it’s because there has been a concerted effort to conceal and obfuscate it, and to demonize, stigmatize, and silence those who dare to speak about it honestly.
This endeavor has been pursued so relentlessly that even today, there are people of power and influence who react with puzzled surprise and disdain when anyone speaks about that ideology, as if nothing could be more absurd than the idea that there are Islamic jihadis who want to kill Americans and subvert the American political system so that Sharia, Islamic law, can replace it. I met some of them on Tuesday.
On that day, I testified at a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, speaking about how the spread of Sharia in the United States was a threat to our freedoms, and how Sharia contradicts Constitutional protections in numerous particulars. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Determinedly Clueless) took particular umbrage with what I was saying.
Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen says America needs saving from "white Christian nationalism."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 10, 2026
"We're talking about Sharia Law? ...There's so much we could be dealing with the constitution and protecting America. White Christian nationalist ideology has been put forward..." pic.twitter.com/TIP0Trz4Sc
“We’re talking about Sharia law?,” Cohen asked incredulously. “I mean, this is not really relevant to this committee or what’s going on in America today. There's so much we could be dealing with concerning the Constitution and protecting America—white Christian nationalist ideology has been put forward.”
He then asked me if I had referred to some group’s “plan for the future.” I responded: “You might be referring to the Explanatory Memorandum… It’s a captured internal document of the Muslim Brotherhood detailing its program for the United States, where it says the brothers must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within, and sabotaging its miserable house by their own hands and the hands of the believers so that Allah’s religion is victorious over other religions.”
As I tried to continue, Cohen cut me off, saying twice: “You’re not Pam Bondi.” I had no idea what he was talking about at the time, as I didn’t see her famous testimony until later, but anyway, he went on: “What you’re talking about sounds like a Middle Eastern version of Project 2025, another type of manifesto to take over and do all these things and control our government.”
Yes, I admit it: I laughed. I know I was supposed to be respectful to the august servant of the people and all that, but as Old Joe Biden would say, “Come on, man!” Sharia is a Middle Eastern version of Project 2025? I can’t claim to be an authority on Project 2025, but somehow I doubt that Project 2025 says that if you criticize President Donald Trump, you should be executed.
Likewise, I doubt that Project 2025 mandates stoning for adultery, or amputation of the hand for theft, or the beheading of those who do not accept Project 2025. It seems unlikely in the extreme that the program of Project 2025 says “When you meet those who do not accept Project 2025, strike the necks,” or “Kill those who disbelieve in Project 2025 wherever you find them.” The Qur’an, however, says “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks” (47:4) and “Kill them wherever you find them” (2:191, 4:89, 4:91), “them” being polytheists, which in the Qur’anic scheme of things refers to pretty much everyone except Muslims (cf. Qur’an 9:5).
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Steve Cohen’s ridiculous attempt to equate Sharia with Project 2025 only shows that he doesn’t have the slightest idea what Sharia is, and as he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and has nothing but contempt for those who would inform him, his condition is not going to improve.
Cohen, and other leftists like him, represent the biggest obstacle today to efforts to protect Constitutional freedoms from the encroachments of a legal system that would destroy the U.S. as a free society, and has numerous adherents in this country right now. They’re sure that any efforts to protect Americans from Sharia amount to nothing more than “bigotry” and “Islamophobia.” And so they will work hard to prevent any restrictions being placed upon the spread of Sharia in the United States at all. What could possibly go wrong?
