Former Reagan Official Warns of Growing Alliance Between Far-Left and Radical Islamists

Washington — A former Reagan administration official is raising concerns about what he describes as an emerging coalition between radical Islamist groups and far-left socialist movements, arguing that the unlikely partners share a common goal of undermining American interests.

Frank Gaffney, who served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy during the Reagan administration, told Fox News Digital that he has observed increasing cooperation between what he calls the "red-green alliance" — a reference to the ideological pairing of far-left movements, symbolized by red, with Islamist movements, symbolized by green.

Gaffney, who founded the Center for Security Policy think tank in Washington, D.C., in 1988, suggested that while the two groups have different ultimate objectives, they have found common cause in their opposition to the American constitutional system.

"Fundamentally, they're at the hip in totalitarianism," Gaffney said. "Yes, with different outcomes in mind, but still perfectly willing to make common cause for the immediate shared objective of destroying the United States, which stands in the way of either of their ambitions."

The former defense official characterized the relationship as one where the groups' similarities outweigh their differences.

"What they have in common is much more important than their differences," he explained.

The issue recently drew attention during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing earlier this month titled "Hidden in Plain Sight: Confronting the Muslim Brotherhood Network in America." During the hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questioned Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, about the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America.

Cruz characterized this relationship as the "Red-Green Alliance," and Shideler agreed with that characterization, testifying that he has observed evidence of a "revolutionary objective" shared by these groups.

Shideler's testimony prompted Cruz to post on social media platform X: "This threat cannot be ignored because it is politically inconvenient. A counterterrorism expert testified that the Muslim Brotherhood and the DSA are united by a shared hatred of America — and a revolutionary objective to overthrow the U.S. Constitution."

Gaffney echoed those concerns during his interview, suggesting the alliance represents a coordinated threat being pursued through American political channels.

"So that's where we find ourselves at the moment — with a red-green axis that seeks the destruction of our country and is making that a goal being pursued now in the Democratic Party," he said.

The concept has also attracted attention from critics of radical Islamism within the Muslim community itself. In May, Dalia Ziada, a Muslim scholar who was forced to flee Egypt after criticizing Hamas' October 2023 attacks on Israel, spoke with Fox News Digital about her concerns regarding the relationship between radical left and Islamist movements.

"For five or seven years now, we have been seeing some kind of a 'sinful marriage' between the radical left and radical Islamism, the groups that hate Western liberal democracies and desire to destroy them," Ziada said.

A Fox News Digital investigation found that approximately 425 organizations, spanning communist groups, Muslim advocacy organizations, and anti-Israel activist coalitions, are part of a coordinated transnational protest network with a combined annual revenue of roughly $1 billion.

Gaffney, who holds a Master of Arts in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and currently serves as president of the Institute for the American Future, argued that while the far left and Islamists may envision different end results, both movements view the American constitutional system as an obstacle to their ambitions.