{"id":45409,"date":"2026-04-09T04:56:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T04:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45409"},"modified":"2026-04-09T04:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T04:56:38","slug":"9-11-showed-me-anti-muslim-bigotry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45409","title":{"rendered":"9\/11 Showed Me \u2018Anti-Muslim Bigotry\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Democratic Iowa congressional candidate and Lutheran minister Sarah Trone Garriott wrote in an opinion piece, published after criticism of her 2021 reading of a Muslim prayer in the Iowa Senate, that the September 11 attacks made her more aware of \u201canti-Muslim bigotry\u201d and the \u201charm\u201d it caused.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trone Garriott, who is running in Iowa\u2019s Third Congressional District against Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, wore two face masks while <\/span>reading<\/span><\/a> a prayer written by a Muslim constituent on the floor of the Iowa Senate in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

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At the time, Trone Garriott defended the decision by <\/span>saying<\/span><\/a>, \u201cEvery single prayer has been a Christian prayer at the Senate. We really needed to have some diversity because that is our community. The Des Moines metro is very diverse religiously.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A 2024 study <\/span>found<\/span><\/a> that both Iowa and the Des Moines area are less than one percent Muslim.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the backlash, Trone Garriott <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> an op-ed titled \u201cWhy I shared a Muslim prayer in the Iowa Senate.\u201d In the piece, she wrote that Christian voices had been \u201coverwhelmingly represented\u201d in the chamber and argued that her prayer was intended to reflect religious diversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trone Garriott wrote that after the prayer, she received messages referencing \u201cSharia law,\u201d Islam as a \u201cviolent religion,\u201d and claims that the United States is a \u201cJudeo-Christian country\u201d where Muslim prayers were unwelcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

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She also wrote that her experience beginning a master of theological studies degree at Harvard University immediately after the September 11 attacks shaped her views.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe day before I began my master of theological studies degree at Harvard University was Sept. 11, 2001,\u201d Trone Garriott wrote. \u201cOn that religiously diverse campus, I was more aware of the rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The op-ed made no mention of the Americans killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trone Garriott further argued that her decision to read the prayer was part of an effort to elevate \u201cminority\u201d voices.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of all this, I actively seek to bring in the voices of those in the minority of power or number,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe can\u2019t work together for the good of Iowa when some are left out, when bigotry renders some voiceless, when rhetoric that inspires violence is allowed to go unchallenged.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She concluded by writing that \u201cNo aspect of anything that happens here in this chamber should be dominated by one voice\u201d and that if prayer is permitted in the state capitol, \u201cThat opportunity needs to be open to all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft told Breitbart News,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSarah Trone Garriott should be ashamed for wagging her finger at America for not being woke enough about 9\/11 and completely ignoring the more than 2,000 patriots tragically killed that day. There is truly no floor to how low Trone Garriott will stoop to pander to coastal elite Democrat Party bosses by insulting Iowa values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, the National Republican Congressional Committee released a video showing Trone Garriott running into a building after being asked, \u201cIs God real?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n