The Obama secret-Muslim campaign replicated 1928 anti-Catholic conspiracy narratives

Evidence

The Klan also accused Catholics of conspiring with Jews to take over America. In opposing the 1928 presidential candidate Al Smith, a Catholic, the Klan claimed that Smith’s selection of Jewish Belle Moskowitz as his adviser was proof of a conspiracy against Protestants. It was alleged that with Moskowitz’s help, Smith would build a palace in Washington, DC, from which he would allow the papacy to take over America. Other nativist elements contributed to a whisper campaign comprising pamphlets, editorials, and sermons warning Americans to beware of a Catholic president whose loyalty would be to the pope in Rome, not to the US government. Islamophobes led a similar campaign in 2008 alleging that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim who would nefariously Islamicize America from the White House. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 304 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Anti-Catholic conspiracy rhetoric in 1928 prefigured the 2008 Obama Muslim smear — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 304; Sustained media smears convinced a large minority that Obama was secretly Muslim; Anti-Catholic conspiracy claims about takeover plots recur verbatim against American Muslims today — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 310 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Anti-Catholic conspiracy rhetoric in 1928 prefigured the 2008 Obama Muslim smear #corroborates (1.00) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 304