Mayorkas: Republicans Should ‘Not Politicize’ Actions Of Biden Admin

Outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Sunday that Republicans should “not politicize” the Biden administration’s efforts to root out alleged extremists from inside the U.S. military.

Mayorkas made the remarks during a Sunday ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” while discussing 42-year-old Islamic terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who declared allegiance to ISIS and then murdered at least 14 people in an attack on New Orlean’s French Quarter last week.

“We have not only the persistent threat of foreign terrorism that, of course, created the Department of Homeland Security, but we have adverse nation states, and for the past 10 years, we’ve seen a significant increase in what we term homegrown violent extremism,” he said. “It is a very difficult threat landscape and it is why that we as a community, not just the federal government, but state and local officials and residents, need to be alert to it and take the precautions necessary to avoid violence from occurring.”

After downplaying how significantly his disastrous border policies have damaged U.S. national security, Mayorkas responded to criticism from President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, over the administration’s “sham” of trying root out extremists from the military.

“The phenomenon of radicalization of individuals is not limited to the military,” Mayorkas said. “It is something that we are very focused upon in society writ large. The military is not immune to it, nor is the federal work force.”

He said that Republicans should “not politicize” the issue but rather focus on “confronting and combatting” it.

WATCH:

Disgraced DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: “The phenomenon of radicalization of individuals is not limited to the military … The military is not immune to it nor is the federal workforce.” pic.twitter.com/Cg0ON1k0qv

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 5, 2025