The candidates atop the GOP presidential field are ramping up political attacks aimed at Muslims, a move designed to appeal to hardline conservatives. But party elders worry that escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric could cost Republicans the White House in 2016.
The aggressive words, in particular from front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson, have exacerbated a widening rift between the GOP’s pragmatic and ideological wings as the party tries to avoid losing a third consecutive presidential election.
His relationship with the nation’s Hispanic community already strained, Trump vowed on Wednesday to deport any Syrian refugee taken in by the U.S. Most likely would be Muslim, and Trump warned they could be Islamic State militants in disguise.
“If I win, they’re going back,” the billionaire businessman said.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, launched a petition on Thursday challenging the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group’s tax-exempt status, escalating his ongoing rift with the U.S. Muslim community.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations last month called for Carson to quit the presidential race after he said a Muslim should not serve as president. He has since clarified his position, stating he wouldn’t support a radical Muslim who did not support the Constitution. And in a Thursday radio interview, Carson said the same standard should apply to a Supreme Court justice.
He said Islam is “a lifestyle” that he’d “need to know about” before making an appointment to the nation’s highest court.
“If I were the one nominating such a person, I would spend a good deal of time looking at their background and seeing if it is consistent with the kinds of standards that we expect from such a position,” Carson told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, adding that a nominee would have to publicly reject Islamic law.
There are currently no Supreme Court vacancies and no presidential candidates adhere to Muslim law, although some conservatives have repeatedly tried to link President Barack Obama to Islam. He is a Christian.
Carson’s fortunes have surged since he first said he wouldn’t support a Muslim president. He raised roughly $700,000 and added more than 100,000 Facebook friends in the 36 hours after making the comment, said campaign manager Barry Bennett.
The focus on Islam comes as Republicans work to repair a strained relationship with the nation’s surging Hispanic population, a critical voting bloc in presidential elections. The U.S. Muslim population is a fraction of the size of the Hispanic community, yet the party’s overall tone could complicate broader outreach efforts.
Political observers in both parties agree, among them, the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney. More than anything, he said of his lessons from his failed campaign, is that Republicans must do a better job at connecting with minority voters.
“I think it’s been unfortunate that some of the rhetoric has so clouded the picture that some people think we’re anti-immigrant. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Romney said, prompting audible laughs of disbelief from the crowd gathered at a Washington conference on Wednesday.
“Hey guys. My party is pro-legal immigration. Massively,” Romney pleaded and later added, “The rhetoric has been terribly unfortunate in many respects.”
Foreign policy analyst Rula Jebreal cited a sharp shift in the GOP’s present-day tone compared to 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and former President George W. Bush, who visited a mosque shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to demonstrate religious tolerance.
“Islamophobia is now an industry,” Jebreal said. “In the long run it will hurt the Republican Party and it will hurt the country in general.”
Yet there is some evidence that anti-Muslim rhetoric resonates with voters in both parties. A June Gallup poll found that 54 percent of Republicans would not vote for a well-qualified Muslim nominee from their own party; 39 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats said the same.
The U.S. Muslim population is growing, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center, which found the group remains extremely small, representing just under 1 percent of the U.S. population.
Meanwhile, some Republican presidential candidates have adopted a softer tone.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whom conservatives have been slow to embrace, said Trump should show “some sensitivity” to the Syrian refugee crisis.
“We have an obligation to make sure that people coming here are legitimate, but send them all back? To a hellhole?” Bush said Wednesday.
Democrats are trying to capitalize, with Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton casting Trump the poster boy for the Republican Party.
“Don’t be distracted by their flamboyant front-runner,” she said in a recent New Hampshire speech. “He’s been trafficking in prejudice and paranoid throughout this campaign. But if you look at the policies of the other Republican candidates … they are just Trump without the pizazz or the hair.”
Meanwhile, Romney downplayed Trump’s chances in 2016.
“I will support the Republican nominee. I don’t think that’s going to be Donald Trump,” Romney charged.
Trump fired back Thursday, writing on Twitter that Romney let his party down in 2012. “Should’ve won,” Trump tweeted. “He choked!”
(AP)
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6 Responses
I have yet to hear a ‘moderate ‘ Muslim denounce the rhetoric and actions against the US and Israel. Let’s start there.
Haha. christianity is hardly constitution friendly either, no religion really is, but the country tolerates its religious. According to The Free Encyclopedia, 78.3% of the USA populace is christian, 1.8% is Jewish, and 0.9% is muslim. There is a higher ratio of innocents:terrorists in islam than christianity and judaism (as if), and while no rational person supports terrorist muslims, I believe that there is such a thing as a modern-world-compatible muslim, just like there are modern-world-compatible christians. People like Carson who think islam is an antithesis to the modern world like to ignore that the other religions promote slavery and dhimmism, and tolerate slavery and genocide. If members of christianity can exist in a modern world, it stands to reason that so can muslims.”
^^Just the thoughts of voters. Regardless of reality, if the GOP frontrunner is perceived as bigoted against muslims, I really don’t think the GOP can win the caucasian house.
Why should the US be giving preferences to Islamic-state supporters rather than to Iraqi and Afghani translators who are fleeing for their lives after being “left behind” when Obama cut and ran from the region? We should be giving the visas to those who supported and helped the US, not to those who opposed America and its allies in the War on Terrorism.
How in the world could Anybody vote for this Nut!
@4. Obama won so anything is possible.
The position of American Muslms is similar to that of German- Americans and Japanese-Americans during the world wars (and what would be our situation if Israel were an enemy of the US, which came very close in 1949 since a pro-communist party was the runner-up in the first election and wanted Israel to ally with the Warsaw Pact). While many Muslims overseas are on “our side”, the bulk of our enemies are Muslims. American Muslims have to go to great lengths to prove their loyalty, and most have not been doing so. The fact is complicated since Islam has a long history of trying to conquer and convert non-Muslims, and no history of peaceful co-existence as a religious minority.
Carson is hardly a nut, and is arguably the current GOP front-runner (Trump seems to have reached his maximum since everyone opposed to Trump makes clear they can’t stand him, whereas Carson tends to be the second choice of most of the other candidates’ supporters). Most non-Muslim Americans are wary of Islam, and Carson does not hurt his electability by being critical of Islam (and interestingly, much of the anti-Islamic sentiment is found among the politically correct left, broadening Carson’s appeal).