Factsheets
Last
week, Donald Trump made news offering a dangerous and un-American
proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. But while some
of his opponents have offered lip service to distancing themselves from
this extreme proposal, the truth is that many of those Republican
candidates have been pedaling the same Islamophobia as their party’s
inflammatory frontrunner.
You don’t have to just take our word for it…
New York Times Editorial: The Trump Effect, and How It Spreads
“Do
not make the mistake of treating [Donald Trump] as a solitary
phenomenon, a singular celebrity narcissist who has somehow, all alone,
brought his party and its politics to the brink of fascism. He is the
leading Republican candidate for president. He has been for months. The
things he says are outrageous, by design, but they were not spawned, nor
have they flourished, in isolation. The Republican rivals rushing to
distance themselves from his latest inflammatory proposal — a
faith-based wall around the country — have been peddling their own
nativist policies for months or years. They have been harshening their
campaign speeches and immigration proposals in response to the Trump
effect. Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush want to allow only Christian refugees from
Syria to enter the country, and Mr. Cruz has introduced legislation to
allow states to opt out of refugee resettlement.”
Huffington Post: Donald Trump’s Islamophobia Is Bad, But His Rivals Aren’t Much Better
“But
Trump is not the only candidate presenting Islamophobic proposals. The
refugee and immigration policies put forth by several Republican
presidential hopefuls would effectively bar a huge percentage of the
world’s Muslims from entering the United States…. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
introduced legislation last week that was ostensibly designed to
prevent would-be terrorists posed as refugees from entering the U.S. In
reality, the amendment would ban refugees from 33 countries – almost all
of which have Muslim-majority populations…. Cruz was one of a handful
of Republicans who voted in favor of the failed amendment last week, but
he has advocated for a religion-based admission process for refugees
ever since the terror attacks in Paris last month.… Kasich and Rubio
slammed Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration as outrageous and
divisive, but they failed to point out the explicit racism in Trump’s
comments.
Associated Press: Donald Trump’s Call For ‘Shutdown’ On Muslims Entering US Escalates GOP Rhetoric On Islam
“Amid
fear of terrorism, Republican presidential candidates for months have
escalated their rhetoric about the place of Muslims in the United
States. A Muslim shouldn’t be president. Muslims fleeing war-torn Syria
and Iraq should be barred from the country. Mosques should be placed
under surveillance and shut down if people are radicalized in them.”
Washington Post’s EJ Dionne: The slippery slope to Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims
Trump’s
embrace of a religious test for entry to our country did not come out
of nowhere. On the contrary, it simply brought us to the bottom of a
slippery slope created by the ongoing exploitation of anti-Muslim
feeling for political purposes. You don’t have to reach far back in time
to see why Trump figured he had the ideological space for his Muslim
ban. Last month, it was Jeb Bush who introduced the idea of linking the
rights of Syrian refugees to their religion. He said he was comfortable
granting admission to “people like orphans and people who are clearly
not going to be terrorists. Or Christians.” Asked how he’d determine who
was Christian, he explained that “you can prove you’re a Christian.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) took a similar view, saying , “There is no
meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror.” Trump took
limits on Muslim access to our country to their logical — if un-American
and odious — conclusion.
Associated Press: Republicans see little downside to railing against Muslims
Some
leading Republican presidential candidates seem to view Muslims as fair
game for increasingly harsh words that they might use with more caution
against any other group for fear of the political cost. So far, that
strategy is winning support from conservatives influential in picking
the nominee. Many Republicans are heartened by strong rhetoric
addressing what they view as a threat to national security by Islam
itself, analysts say. Because Muslims are a small voting bloc, the
candidates see limited fallout from what they are saying in the
campaign.
Politico: Trump plan pushes Muslim Republicans toward exit
Many
Republicans have rushed to condemn Trump this week…But most have
simultaneously walked a wobbly tightrope to say they would nonetheless
support Trump, if he became the party’s nominee….That is not enough for
many Muslims in America, especially after Ben Carson has said a Muslim
shouldn’t be president, Ted Cruz has suggested a religious test for
accepting Syrian refugees and Marco Rubio has doubted whether
“discrimination against Muslims” is widespread in America.
Republican Muslim Coalition founder, Saba Ahmed
“Our candidates aren’t being very welcoming and they’re making absurd comments, one after another.”
Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson: Republicans pander to anti-Muslim bigotry
The
founders of this nation recognized Islam as one of the world’s great
faiths. Incredibly and disgracefully, much of today’s Republican Party
disagrees….Indeed, the Constitution states that “no religious Test shall
ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under
the United States.” Some of the GOP candidates for president, however,
simply do not care.
Vox: Donald Trump’s Islamophobic rhetoric resonates with many Republicans
But
Trump’s Islamophobic comments are part of a broader trend within the
Republican field: Over the past few months, particularly in the weeks
following the terrorist attack in Paris, Republican candidates have
increasingly targeted Muslims in their rhetoric…. What’s worse,
Republican candidates are not making these types of comments off the
cuff. They know they are pandering to a very sizable portion of
Americans, particularly within the Republican base.
