Allen West: Obama should ‘denounce’ Muslim Brotherhood ‘takeover in Egypt’

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) over the weekend said the United States should cut off foreign aid to Egypt and denounce the results of the country’s presidential election.

“I call upon President Barack Obama to cut off American foreign aid to Egypt, denounce the results of this election, repudiate the Muslim Brotherhood, and all radical Islamist political entities,” the freshman congressman wrote on his Facebook page.

He went on to dismiss events leading up to Egypt’s first democratic election, known as the “Arab Spring” protests, that saw massive and often violent demonstrations in the Arab world early last year.

“Clearly the Arab Spring is nothing more than a radical Islamic nightmare,” West said.

He strongly condemned the results of Egypt’s run-off presidential election, announced over the weekend as a win for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi.

The White House has extended diplomatic relations to the Islamist party since they began to accumulate power in Egypt’s new democracy, and over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney greeted Morsi’s election with a promise to work with him “on the basis of mutual respect, to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States.”

The administration has emphasized that they are carefully watching the "actions," rather than the religious affiliation, of Egypt's new leaders. The Islamic group had long been banned by Egypt's leaders until the revolution removed President Hosni Mubarak from power last spring. The group favors a government based on religious law, raising questions about their commitment to democracy.

Carney, asked about West's comments by reporters on Monday, said he had not seen the remarks but that they are "similar to ones we’ve heard in the past."

“We judge individuals and parties that are elected in a democratic process by their actions, not by their religious affiliations,” he said. “And I would point you to the comments that President-elect Morsi made, the commitments he made to upholding civil rights, including of women and Coptic Christians, principles that we very much think are important.”

West’s Facebook note, posted on Sunday, was also a clear “I told you so” from the Tea Party-favorite.

“A year ago there were those of us who warned the Obama Administration of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt. We were castigated as alarmists and loose cannons," he wrote. “What an incredible foreign policy faux pas by the second coming of President Jimmy Carter, the Obama administration.”

--Updated at 4:10 p.m.

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