Rep. Keith Self of Texas posted a video clip from Rita Cosby’s program featuring former CIA officer Sam Faddis, who discussed foreign funding of Sharia law advocacy and radical Islamist networks operating inside the United States.
“The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.”
Self issued that line when he filed a resolution denouncing Sharia law and opposing its implementation in the United States, and the same argument runs through his floor remarks and written commentary on the subject. The Freedom Caucus member has said Sharia places divine law above individual rights and cannot coexist with constitutional guarantees such as equal treatment under the law or a person’s freedom to leave a religion.
The Faddis clip fits a broader effort by Self to counter the spread of Sharia in the United States, much of it run through a congressional caucus he helped build. Self and Rep. Chip Roy of Texas co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus after a conversation with Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, according to Self. Self’s office has reported that the caucus grew to 68 members from 25 states, among them House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Texas Reps. Brandon Gill and Michael Cloud. Members back the No Sharia Act, which would bar U.S. courts from enforcing Sharia-based judgments, along with the Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act. Tuberville carries Senate versions of both bills. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has designated the caucus an anti-Muslim hate group.
Self has also taken the fight to his home county. He appeared before the McKinney City Council to urge members to reject a zoning application for a neighborhood mosque expansion. The council approved the step 7-0.
His positions have drawn danger as well as debate. The FBI arrested a 17-year-old from McKinney, Self’s hometown, accused of plotting to kill the congressman at an event and carry out an attack in North Texas on behalf of ISIS. Self and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott both said the suspect had been radicalized by the terror group and had obtained a weapon. The FBI declined to confirm details of the plot to Fox 4 in Dallas, and authorities have not released the suspect’s name because he is a minor. He remains in federal custody, and a federal judge will decide whether he is tried as an adult.
Self thanked law enforcement for stopping the threat and connected it directly to his public stance, writing on X that defending the constitutional republic from radical Islam means accepting costs that include name-calling and threats. He pointed to his 25 years of military service as the reason he would keep going.
“This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down,” Self wrote.
