The War on Terror conditioned the American public to want Trump.

Evidence

Seen in perspective, the domestic War on Terror is not really about keeping Americans safe as much as it is about creating a spectacle of fear. During the Cold War, schools routinely conducted “duck and cover” drills in which students and teachers hid under tables, supposedly to protect them from a blast in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Whatever the marginal benefits of ducking under a table, the ability to survive a nuclear bomb depends on one’s distance from the blast, not on the furniture. The real goal of such activities was to keep the threat of attack alive and to foster fear and paranoia. In the War on Terror era, color-coded “terror threat levels” (ultimately phased out in 2011) and “if you see something, say something” signs in airports and subway stations have served a similar purpose by generating the spectacle of terrorism. And mainstream media coverage of “foiled terror plots” orchestrated by the law enforcement community only serves to reinforce this atmosphere. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

What Americans know—or think they know—about Islam is largely influenced by the media, especially for Americans who are not acquainted with a Muslim or who have little to no formal education about Islam. 66 This is because the media is right at our fingertips. However, when the media determines who is telling the story, what is included or excluded, and how the story is packaged and presented, there is an obvious bias in the information being presented. 67 Many Americans (politicians, Islamophobes, etc.) are afraid of the “Islamization of America,” in which shari’a would take precedence over the U.S. Constitution. They are afraid that armed jihad (violent extremism) is just one step of this elaborate plan to Islamize America, in which all Muslims will participate because that is what the Qur’an and Muhammad supposedly call for. For this reason, they oppose jihad, Islam, and Muslims as a whole. — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 75 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Trumpism predates Trump and will outlast his presidency — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 509; Islamophobia predates Trump by centuries as a state-backed system — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 79; Trumpism’s Islamophobic ideology predates Trump’s presidency, rooted in birtherism — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 230 (+8 more)

Related

• Trumpism predates Trump and will outlast his presidency (similarity 0.83)
• Terrorism fear uniquely suits political manipulation because it resists quick fixes (similarity 0.83)
• War on Terror conditioning produced the demand Trump satisfied (similarity 0.83)
• The War on Terror conditioned voters to demand explicitly Islamophobic leadership (similarity 0.82)
• Trumpism’s Islamophobic ideology predates Trump’s presidency, rooted in birtherism (similarity 0.82)
• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety (similarity 0.82)
• Islamophobia predates Trump by centuries as a state-backed system (similarity 0.81)
• Trump marked a new phase where rhetorical Islamophobia aligned openly with policy (similarity 0.79)
• Obama’s surveillance state mainstreamed Islamophobia that enabled Trump’s victory (similarity 0.79)
• The Trump administration elevated Islamophobic figures who shared his conspiracy beliefs. (similarity 0.79)
• War on Terror Islamophobia empowered populist demagogues to seize power against Muslims (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety #corroborates (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484
• The War on Terror racially constructed Muslims as terrorists. #expands (0.60)
• War on Terror rhetoric revived vocabulary from America’s earlier race-based persecutions. #expands (0.50)
• Media framing shapes American attitudes toward Islam and jihad #expands (0.50) — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 75
• The War on Terror was ideologically framed as a civilizational clash #expands (0.50)