A strain of anti-Muslim bigotry has become increasingly common in GOP politics, manifesting everywhere from a “Sharia-free America” caucus in Congress to rhetoric on the campaign trail.
A strain of anti-Muslim bigotry has become increasingly common in GOP politics, manifesting everywhere from a “Sharia-free America” caucus in Congress to rhetoric on the campaign trail.
A strain of anti-Muslim bigotry has become increasingly common in GOP politics, manifesting everywhere from a “Sharia-free America” caucus in Congress to rhetoric on the campaign trail.
Transcript
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
This campaign cycle has been marked by a sharp rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric from some Republican candidates. It’s been fueled in part by prominent victories by two Muslim American politicians, Zohran Mamdani in New York and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. NPR’s Barbara Sprunt reports.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Hours after Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s Senate, one of his potential future colleagues, Senator Tommy Tuberville, called him a terrorist. The Alabama Republican is far from alone in trafficking in anti-Muslim rhetoric this cycle. South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace posted that every Muslim holding public office is a Trojan horse.
MAYA BERRY: We have seen a significant increase in anti-Muslim bigotry coming from elected officials, policymakers.
SPRUNT: That’s Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute.
BERRY: There is a sense of one speaks about the American Muslim community in a way that you would generally not espouse towards another group or another faith without sort of hedging your comments and sort of saying, no, no, no, I don’t mean it that way. Nope, folks are perfectly comfortable meaning it that way when it comes to American Muslims, and that is really harmful.
SPRUNT: Berry says this cycle, fearmongering about Islam is paired with warnings about communism and socialism.
BERRY: It is yet another example of how there’s a focus group that sat down somewhere and they’re like, let’s talk about socialism, let’s talk about communism, and then we can do the Holy Grail of bringing in Islam to it, and, boy, is that going to play well.
SPRUNT: Raqib Naik is the executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate. He says there’s a notable distinction between the anti-Muslim rhetoric of the post-9/11 era and what’s happening now.
RAQIB NAIK: More so presenting Muslims not just as a security threat but also a demographic political and civilizational threat, and most of these narratives are rooted in the great replacement theory.
SPRUNT: Great replacement – the conspiracy theory that white populations in Western countries are being replaced by nonwhite populations to achieve a political agenda. It’s been linked to multiple deadly attacks, including in San Diego, El Paso and Pittsburgh. Naik says New York Mayor Mamdani and El-Sayed’s electoral successes are just one factor for renewed anti-Muslim messaging, but they play a role in appearing to validate that conspiracy theory.
NAIK: Presenting Islam as an existential threat does allow political opponents to present Muslim candidates running for office as an evidence of infiltration or a tool of Islamification.
SPRUNT: And that theme is front and center in ads playing across the country.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Radical Islam is taking root in Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Radical Islam is incompatible with the West.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: They don’t think we deserve the right to exist as Americans or as Christians.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Hate our way of life. It wants Sharia Law.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Oklahoma is next.
SPRUNT: Nazita Lajevardi is a political science professor at the University of Michigan.
NAZITA LAJEVARDI: The sound and the language and the imaging all together produce almost a trailer for a horror movie.
SPRUNT: She says not only does this alienate communities the GOP was previously trying to make inroads with, but it could also backfire in broadening the party’s appeal.
LAJEVARDI: People who may be disaffected voters and may not share identities of the targets of these attacks, but they still might be repulsed.
SPRUNT: But Vinny Minchillo, a GOP consultant, says for other voters, the message works.
VINNY MINCHILLO: In advertising, there’s only two things for sale, and that’s hope and fear. And in this case, it’s fear, and I think people don’t like change. People don’t like things that are different to them.
SPRUNT: And he adds…
MINCHILLO: Let’s be honest, here. If you look at any poll anywhere in the country, people’s No. 1 concern is economy and inflation. So for those of us on the Republican side, gee, if we can have a problem to talk about that’s not economy and inflation, we’re excited to put that in the message set.
SPRUNT: Naik continues to track these messages every day and says they’re only getting more frequent as Election Day gets closer. Barbara Sprunt, NPR News.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
