Islamophobic rhetoric has officially permeated into mainstream politics according to a sobering new report by the National Security Network.
“The current political climate is the culmination of a years-long and well-funded effort to bring Islamophobia and xenophobia from the far-right fringe to the political mainstream,” pens J. Dana Stuster and Samuel Davidoff-Gore. “This rhetoric and legislation has a direct lineage stemming from a network of hate groups and conspiracy theorists. The legitimization of these extremists’ views in the political discourse is an irresponsible denigration of American democracy.”
The paper notes that anti-Muslim rrhetoric is becoming increasingly prominent among Republican presidential candidates. Despite lack of evidence, Donald Trump continues to claim that he saw Muslims celebrating the September 11th attacks, and Ben Carson said he would “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.”
