Obama framed even anti-Islamic acts in national-security terms rather than religious freedom.

Evidence

As this lopsided debate unfolded, President Obama qualified his earlier statements in support of the project by saying that while he affirms the religious rights of all people, he was not in saying this commenting “on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there.” Obama was quickly adapting to right-wing pressure; when Gainesville, Florida, minister Terry Jones announced his plan to burn the Koran on September 11, Obama did not argue that such an act was offensive, that it constituted an attack on religious freedom, or that it was reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan cross burnings in the South, but that it threatened “national security” and would put US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan “in harm’s way”: “This could increase the recruitment of individuals who’d be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities.” Obama’s summoning the specter of suicide bombers in America’s cities only further stirred the pot of Islamophobic hatred. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 524

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Obama’s rhetoric masked drone strikes and mosque surveillance.; Obama legitimated anti-Muslim sentiment by emphasizing his Christianity rather than rebutting it. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 525; Islamophobia persisted equally under Obama and Bush administrations. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 311 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Obama legitimated anti-Muslim sentiment by emphasizing his Christianity rather than rebutting it. #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 525
• Islamophobia persisted equally under Obama and Bush administrations. #complicates (0.50) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 311