Republican removes post criticising Sikh congressional prayer
Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller is facing criticism after she said it was 'troubling' that a Muslim led the morning prayer in US Congress, and then changed her social media post once she learnt that it was actually a Sikh man who had spoken. 'America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth,' she wrote in her social media post on X on Friday. The representative later removed her post after being admonished by both her Democratic and Republican colleagues. 'Mary, you're a racist, bigoted, disgusting, and shameful person, you don't deserve to represent anyone in public office,' wrote Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost. The man who led the prayer, Giani Surinder Singh of the Gurdwara South Jersey Sikh Society, was invited to be the morning guest chaplain by Republican Representative Jeff Van Drew according to Politico. Republican Representative David Valadao took Ms Miller to task for her post. 'I'm troubled by my colleague's remarks about this morning's Sikh prayer, which have since been deleted,' he wrote on X. 'Religious freedom is one of our nation's founding principles, and I started the American Sikh Congressional Caucus to draw attention to this very issue and work towards religious tolerance for all.' Representative Miller's comments, which were also widely considered to be Islamophobic, came on the first day of Eid Al Adha, one of the most important holidays of Islam. Morning invocations are not unusual in the US Congress, and are often given by religious leaders and figures.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
28 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Iran threatens attack on US bases in response to nuclear site strikes
[Editor's Note: Follow our live blog for real-time updates on the latest developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.] Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear. With aerial assaults between Iran and Israel raging — including fresh strikes by Israel on what it said were military targets in Iran — the US State Department issued a worldwide caution alert for its citizens traveling or living abroad. International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month. Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. "Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces," he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency. "America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences." In a sign of possible nervousness about a wider war, oil prices jumped by more than four per cent at one point in early trading in Asia. President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment sit e at Fordow, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. "We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)" he said on social media. And while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea — even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing earlier that Iran's nuclear program had been "devastated", adding the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people". Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that while it would be "way too early" for him to determine the level of destruction, "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction." Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said his country's military strikes will "finish" once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved. "We are very, very close to completing them," he told reporters. Tehran protests As Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would "receive a response" to the attacks. People gathered Sunday in central Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans. In the province of Semnan east of the capital, 46-year-old housewife Samireh told AFP she was "truly shocked" by the strikes. "Semnan province is very far from the nuclear facilities targeted, but I'm very concerned for the people who live near," she said. In an address to the nation hours after the attack, Trump claimed success for the operation, and Vice President JD Vance followed up Sunday morning. "We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night," Vance told ABC. But he also suggested Iran still had its highly enriched uranium. "We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel," he said. "They no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium." Another Khamenei advisor, Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that "even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain." Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordow facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground damage. Retaliation risk The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers that flew 18 hours from the American mainland to Iran. In response to the attack, which used over a dozen massive "bunker buster" bombs, Iran's armed forces targeted sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, with at least 23 people wounded. Nine members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed Sunday in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported, while three people were killed after an ambulance was also struck. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people so far, Iran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US strikes and called for de-escalation, while France, Germany and Britain called on Tehran "not to take any further action that could destabilise the region". Late Sunday the US State Department issued a "worldwide caution" for Americans, saying the conflict in the Middle East could put those traveling or living abroad at an increased security risk. "There is the potential for demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad," the security alert said. "The Department of State advises US citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution."
The National
30 minutes ago
- The National
Oil prices rise after US strike on Iran's nuclear centres
Oil prices rose on Monday after the US entered the Israel-Iran war at the weekend, stoking fears that an escalation could affect global energy supplies. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, was trading 1.75 per cent higher at $78.36 a barrel at 6.55am on Monday. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, jumped 1.83 per cent to $75.19 per barrel. Brent settled at $77.01 a barrel on Friday, while WTI at $73.84. The US struck three nuclear facilities in Iran on Saturday, with President Donald Trump saying on Sunday that the damage to the nuclear sites in Iran was 'monumental'. Meanwhile, Iran said it was ready to defend itself by 'all necessary means' after the US strikes. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei condemned what he described on X as an 'unconscionable act of aggression'. The war, which began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran's nuclear centres, has rattled investors and led to rising concerns about energy security. On Sunday, Iranian state-owned media cited a legislator as saying that Iran's parliament agreed to close the Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for about a fifth of the world's daily oil output. However, the final decision is with Iran's national security council, the report said. Oil prices could surge to as much as $150 a barrel if traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is halted, according to analysts. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged China on Sunday to prevent Iran from closing the strait. China is Iran's key oil importer. 'It remains in the collective interest of the region to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and avoid any disruption to supply,' said Mukesh Sahdev, Rystad Energy's global head of commodity markets for oil. Flows through the Strait of Hormuz are being affected, even if the major fear of a blockade is yet to be realised, he said in a note on Friday. Oil vessel flows have increased, probably to get it out of land terminals and storage, he said. 'Iran may be expediting exports, with indications of a 30 per cent to 40 per cent increase in oil shipments since the attacks began, compared to average June volumes prior to the escalation,' he added.
Middle East Eye
4 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
US lawmakers push to curb Trump's authority on Iran strikes
A group of US lawmakers from both major parties has urged Congress to assert its constitutional authority over war powers, following President Donald Trump's decision to order strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. While Republican leaders in both the Senate and House have backed the military action, there appears to be little chance that any resolution curbing Trump's powers would pass both chambers. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said he plans to force a Senate vote this week on a measure requiring Trump to end military operations against Iran unless Congress formally declares war. "This is the U.S. jumping into a war of choice at Donald Trump's urging, without any compelling national security interest for the United States to act in this way, particularly without a debate and vote in Congress," Kaine told CBS' Face the Nation. In the House, Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna have introduced similar legislation and called for an immediate vote. The White House has not commented on the pushback from lawmakers.
