Explicit Islamophobia has become an effective electoral strategy

Evidence

The Trump campaign and administration highlight that the deployment of explicit Islamophobia is a tried, true, and proven political strategy. The rhetoric Trump used on the campaign trail appealed to sizable segments of the American electorate, providing national and local politicians with a blueprint to follow. “Trumpism,” and the politics of hate on which it capitalized, evolved into a political strategy for both upstart and established politicians. Incoming and incumbent candidates at all levels of politics, seeking to win in jurisdictions where the rhetoric of explicit Islamophobia finds fertile ground, will certainly look to Trump as a guide. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 508

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Rana’s apparatus framework — political Islamophobia as an instrument of electoral power. — connects to: Islamophobic power can deploy oppositional tactics to advance Muslim marginalization; Anti-Islamic propaganda reached tens of millions of voters through shadowy funding; Democratic and Republican parties practice different but complementary forms of Islamophobia — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 327 (+15 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 508

Broader Connections

• The 2016 race weaponized nonspecific Muslim fear for electoral gain #exemplifies (0.90) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 33
• Islamophobic campaign rhetoric is traded for votes and converted into policy #expands (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 57
• Elites mobilized Islamophobia to advance their political agendas across centuries #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 98