Credit: menendez.senate.gov / Robert Menendez is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from New Jersey,

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is urging President Donald Trump to withdraw his nominee for the U.S. ambassador to Germany over comments deemed to be racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic.   Menendez sent a letter to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that highlighted a “catalogue of disturbing statements” by retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor that should disqualify him from the ambassador post. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also called on members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to oppose Trump’s nomination of  Army Colonel Macgregor as Ambassador to Germany.

“CAIR is calling on the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to oppose the nomination of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant racist Douglas Macgregor for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Germany.  Macgregor’s repeated verbal attacks on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his long history of making Islamophobic and conspiratorial remarks about Muslim refugees fleeing to Europe – disparaging Muslims as ‘invaders’ ‘coming to take over’ and with the goal of ‘turning Europe into an Islamic State’ – makes him totally unfit to serve as U.S. ambassador to a long standing ally like Germany. “

-Council on American-Islamic Relations

historica.fandom.com/wiki / Douglas MacGregor was a US Army colonel during the Gulf War and a Republican political commentator.

In 2018, Macgregor disparaged Muslim refugees fleeing to Europe as “invaders,” following German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow refugees to enter that county. Macgregor claimed Merkel “seems more concerned about providing free services to millions of unwanted Muslim invaders” than funding “armed forces in the defense of its country.” – Council on American-Islamic Relations.

If confirmed, MacGregor  would succeed Richard Grenell as U.S. Ambassador to Germany

Credit: U.S. Department of State /  Richard A. Grenell,  former U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

If confirmed, MacGregor  would succeed Richard Grenell, “a right-wing Twitter troll and Trump propagandist who most recently served as acting director of national intelligence”, Washington Post.  Grenell, was a lightning rod for controversy ever since his first days on the job as America’s envoy in Deutschland in May 2018. In a June 2018  interview with far-right website Breitbart News, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany said he hoped to “empower” the right wing in Europe. 

Senator Menendez also opposed Trump’s nomination of Grenell as Ambassador to Germany before he was confirmed.  Menendez, speaking on the Senate Floor,  made note of several twitter tweets Grenell made insulting women, saying “these are not the words of a child or a teenager who does not yet understand the power of words.  These are the words of a grown adult who had previously been a public face of the Bush Administration for 8 years.”

“It would have been my hope and desire that for such an important ally as Germany, the President would have put forth a serious, credible, experienced diplomat who could strengthen our relationship with Germany. Instead, President Trump nominated Mr. Grenell. “

Senator Menedez delivered the remarks on the Senate Floor on his vote against the nomination of  Grenell to become U.S. Ambassador to Germany – Apr. 26, 2018.

Grenell  officially stepped down from his post as the US ambassador to Germany in June 2020 after just two  years in the post. Robin Quinville, deputy chief of mission at the embassy, will take over as Charge d’Affaires until a new ambassador is confirmed. Grenell became infamous for his combative, critical and, at times, non-cooperative diplomatic style.  Trump then selected Grenell  to be a part of his Cabinet as intelligence director, tasked with overseeing 17 spy agencies including the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency.