Electoral politics incentivize both parties to weaponize anti-Muslim racism for career gain

Evidence

Elected representatives in government at all levels have played an instrumental role in mobilizing Islamophobia. Posturing as “tough on terror” is a useful tactic during election season and plays a similar role to the “tough on crime” stance. Numerous politicians in both the Republican and Democratic Parties have resorted to anti-Muslim racism to advance their political careers. … Liberal Islamophobes employ a politics of inclusion with the price tag involving an acceptance of empire and a willingness to aid the war on terror. Conservative and right-wing Islamophobes operate on the logic of exclusion such as bans and/or the removal of Muslim symbols from public spaces. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 743

Categorization

• XREF: The inclusion-with-empire versus exclusion logic parallels Aziz’s distinction between mainstream and Trumpist Islamophobia, and the author’s earlier Ground Zero Mosque analysis. — connects to: The 2016 race weaponized nonspecific Muslim fear for electoral gain — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 33; Politicians adopt racist rhetoric for votes rather than conviction — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 947; The 2008 campaign treated Muslim identity as disqualifying for both partisans (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The 2016 race weaponized nonspecific Muslim fear for electoral gain #exemplifies (0.93) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 33
• Anti-Muslim racism intensified and became a deliberate GOP electoral strategy. #corroborates (0.90) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 853
• The 2008 campaign treated Muslim identity as disqualifying for both partisans #exemplifies (0.85)
• Politicians adopt racist rhetoric for votes rather than conviction #expands (0.82) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 947