FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2026
Contact: Alyvia Bailey
alyvia@johnjamesmi.com
JOHN JAMES: “I WILL NOT TOLERATE EXTREMISTS WHO THREATEN OUR WAY OF LIFE”
James Responds After CAIR and Dearborn Mayor Attack His Military Record and His Commitment to Keep Michigan Safe
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — Republican gubernatorial candidate John James today responded to coordinated attacks from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who called James a “bigot” for pledging to keep Michigan free from extremism.
The response comes after today’s Detroit Free Press article included comments from CAIR, Mayor Hammoud, and the James campaign regarding James’ recent pledge to declare the CAIR a terrorist organization.
“I will be governor for all 10 million Michiganders—Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and every faith and background in between. But the standard is non-negotiable: obey our laws, embrace the Constitution, and pledge allegiance to the United States of America. I won’t confuse the millions of law-abiding Americans who love this country with the extremists who seek to undermine it. And I won’t be lectured by cowards who hide behind identity politics—using minority status as a shield to deflect scrutiny from their own hateful worldview. I don’t play that game. I will not tolerate extremists who threaten our way of life.”
— John James
On July 2nd, CAIR attacked James’s military service, calling his combat record a mere “claim.” John James is a Ranger-qualified Army combat veteran and Apache helicopter pilot who flew combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom fighting the same sectarian terrorists who murdered American soldiers. His record is not a claim. It is a fact. And, Mayor Hammoud and Dawud Walid calling James a bigot for naming documented threats is not a rebuttal. It is a deflection.
In recent years, Michigan has seen:
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A Hezbollah-inspired terrorist ram a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, a synagogue with 140 children inside.
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A former Michigan National Guardsman plotted an ISIS massacre at the U.S. Army’s TACOM base in Warren.
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Two Dearborn men plan an ISIS-inspired Halloween mass shooting at LGBTQ bars in Ferndale.
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Eight individuals federally indicted for a coordinated campaign of threats against University of Michigan officials, law enforcement, and the Jewish Federation, including recorded discussions about poisoning victims and targeting their children.
When the FBI formally classified the Temple Israel attack as Hezbollah-inspired terrorism, CAIR’s response never used the word Hezbollah and never called it terrorism. CAIR issued no public statement on the Warren ISIS plot. CAIR not only failed to condemn the ISIS-inspired plot in Ferndale, but instead noted the FBI’s long history of using informants and taxpayer money to “manufacture” terror plots. But when eight people were indicted for threatening Jewish families and federal officials, CAIR rushed to their defense, calling the prosecution an attack on “constitutionally-protected political expression.”
Mayor Hammoud’s credibility to call anyone a bigot deserves scrutiny. He told a Christian minister he was “not welcome” in Dearborn and promised to throw a parade when he moved out. In his statement addressing the controversy, Hammoud didn’t address the resident directly, instead he praised the diversity of Dearborn. He has never condemned Hamas or Hezbollah by name, and has publicly made jokes about Jihad. He is a prominent ally of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the standard-bearer of the same failed Lansing leadership James is running to replace.
“Mayor Hammoud has never once condemned Hamas or Hezbollah by name and told a Christian minister he was ‘not welcome’ in his own city, and Dawud Walid defended people federally indicted for throwing poisonous chemicals through the windows of families’ homes. They both want to call a combat veteran who fought jihadist terrorists in Iraq a bigot for saying Michigan won’t tolerate extremism. John James will be governor for all Michiganders and will fiercely defend the religious liberty and safety of every law-abiding citizen of this state, but he will not pretend the threat isn’t real, apologize to those who defend the people making it, or be bullied into silence by politicians who promote extremism.”
— Press Secretary Alyvia Bailey
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