Senate Republicans have voiced skepticism of President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Kuwait, Amer Ghalib.
While Democrats could be counted on to oppose Trump's pick, Republicans are indicating they won't support him over troubling statements about Israel and Jews, the Hill reported.
Ghalib, the first Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, endorsed Trump in 2024 as he courted Arab and Muslim voters outraged by the war in Gaza.
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Ghalib downplayed his social media activity, which included praise for Saddam Hussein and hitting "like" on a post comparing Jews to monkeys.
"It’s definitely antisemitism, but clicking on it doesn’t mean I endorse that," Ghalib said.
“Actually, ‘like’ means exactly that,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) replied.
If one Republican joins every Democrat on the committee, Ghalib's nomination will not advance. And Senator Cruz, a fervent Israel backer, has already said he plans to vote no.
“It appears you have a deep-felt and passionate view about the Middle East,” Cruz told Ghalib. “But it is a view that is in direct conflict with the policy positions of President Trump and this administration.”
In another post, Ghalib called Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait in 1990, a "martyr."
“Given that you’d be the United States’s highest ranking diplomat in Kuwait, a country that was invaded by Saddam, how do you justify calling Saddam Hussein a martyr to us, but also to the people of Kuwait?” asked Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), who served in the Gulf War.
Ghalib said he praised Hussein in a fit of anger after the Iranian regime attacked U.S. bases in Iraq in 2020. Hussein launched an eight-year war with Iran in 1980.
“In a moment of anger, I complimented Saddam because he kept Iran in check, and probably that’s the only positive thing he did in his life,” Ghalib said.
The nominee was also asked why he did not take action against a city council member who called the Holocaust a punishment in advance for Israel's bombing of Gaza. Ghalib said he did not have the power to remove the official, but the committee wasn't convinced by his answer.
“Do you believe it’s appropriate to equate Israel, a democratic ally defending itself from terrorism, with the Nazi regime that systematically murdered 6 million Jews?” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) asked Ghalib.
The backlash is a rare example of Senate Republicans breaking with Trump on one of his nominees.
