(Views From the Edge contributed to this article.)
A new report released by Muslim Advocates this morning (Oct. 22) found an overwhelming majority of candidates espousing anti-Muslim views have lost or are projected to lose their races.
The report places much of the current anti-Muslim rhetoric on the shoulders of Donald Trump. The report, Running on Hate, states that Trump’s candidacy, election, and presidency emboldened a new wave of anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists to run for office nationwide and at all levels of government, trying to capitalize on a deeply false premise: that smearing Muslims is a successful campaign strategy.
A new report released by Muslim Advocates this morning (Oct. 22) found an overwhelming majority of candidates espousing anti-Muslim views have lost or are projected to lose their races.
The report places much of the current anti-Muslim rhetoric on the shoulders of Donald Trump. The report, Running on Hate, states that Trump’s candidacy, election, and presidency emboldened a new wave of anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists to run for office nationwide and at all levels of government, trying to capitalize on a deeply false premise: that smearing Muslims is a successful campaign strategy.
An analysis by the civil rights group Muslim Advocates identified 80 candidates who ran on an anti-Muslim platform in local, state and national elections in 2017 and 2018. The report Running on Hate found only 11 to 14 percent of those candidates won their races are or projected to win their races.
The others face a serious blowback from voters including supporters of Donald Trump.
“These campaigns are successful at inflaming bigotry and violence against American Muslims, but not much else,” said Scott Simpson, public advocacy director at Muslim Advocates.
“The voter data and interviews and the win-loss rates of candidates all point to the same conclusion: campaigning using anti-Muslim hate is a losing strategy. Anti-Muslim campaigns only appeal to a small and hostile sliver of the electorate. Vast majorities from both parties, almost every demographic group and every region prefer candidates who embrace religious freedom for American Muslims over the absurd anti-Muslim conspiracies that are proliferating in campaigns.”
“For years, a small yet resilient anti-Muslim conspiracy has lived on the margins of American politics with a beachhead on the fringes of the Republican Party: that there is an imminent Muslim threat aiming to take over the country through both violent and non-violent means,” theRunning on Hate report says. “This fringe has had modest electoral success for years, with several standard-bearers in Congress and statehouses, but the election of Donald Trump put one of their own in the White House for the very first time.”
Some of the races where anti-Muslim rhetoric has been raised include:
State Rep. Rashida Tlaib running for Congressional District 13 in Michigan,
Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar running in the 5th Congressional District, and Ammar Campa-Najjar running in California's 50th Congressional District.
According to the poll in the report, a survey of 1,000 voters, 18 percent of respondents said Muslims are good people. But 7 percent have a negative view of Muslims in general, while 5 percent believe they are good as long as they aren’t extremists. Two percent said their religion is false, 1 percent said Muslims are different, 1 percent said they are terrorists, and fewer than 0.5 percent said they should leave the country.
Seventy-one percent said it is inappropriate for candidates to speak negatively about Muslims during their campaigns. Fourteen percent said it is appropriate, and 14 percent were unsure or refused to say.
Only 8 percent, however, said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who speaks negatively about Muslims. Fifty-eight percent said they would be more likely to vote against that candidate, though it made no difference to 17 percent.
Seventy-one percent said it is inappropriate for candidates to speak negatively about Muslims during their campaigns. Fourteen percent said it is appropriate, and 14 percent were unsure or refused to say.
Only 8 percent, however, said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who speaks negatively about Muslims. Fifty-eight percent said they would be more likely to vote against that candidate, though it made no difference to 17 percent.
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