Rubio: Designating Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organization ‘in the Works’

The U.S. designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization is “in the works,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Aug. 12 in an interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg.

Rosenberg asked Rubio, “I got to ask you: Why wouldn’t you guys designate the Muslim Brotherhood and [the Council on American–Islamic Relations]?”

Rubio said: “All of that is in the works. Obviously, there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them.”

Rubio said there could be legal challenges behind such a designation.

“These things are going to be challenged in court,” he said. “Any group can say, ‘Well, I’m not really a terrorist. That organization is not a terrorist organization.’

“You have to show your work like a math problem when you go before court. All you need is one federal judge—and there are plenty—that are willing to do these nationwide injunctions and basically try to run the country from the bench. So we’ve got to be so careful.”

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia have designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which is Sunni, was founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928.

In July, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, and it provides support to Muslim Brotherhood branches that are terrorist organizations,” he said in a statement.

“One of those branches is Hamas, which on [Oct. 7, 2023,] committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder and kidnapping of at least 53 Americans.

“They are committed to the overthrow and destruction of America and other non-Islamist governments across the world, and pose an acute threat to American national security interests.”

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in July to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

“The global Muslim Brotherhood has numerous regional branches, including terrorist organizations such as Hamas, and spreads violence and instability throughout the Middle East,” he said in a statement.

“For this reason, it is crucial to U.S. national security interests that we prohibit U.S. dollars from enabling the Muslim Brotherhood’s dangerous activities, and that we ensure Muslim Brotherhood members are blocked from entering the United States.”