Why Conservative Commentators Changed Their Views On Islam
Later this year, Americans will mark Sept. 11 — the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
The attack was committed by Al-Qaida, a terrorist organization. And while countless Muslims decried the violence as both a tragedy and as an anti-Islamic act, the following years saw many Muslims (and people suspected to be Muslims) severely mistreated.
Soon after 9/11, there were nearly 20 times the amount of assaults on muslims every year as there had been in the 1990s. And, while that figure has risen and fallen in the decades since, in certain circles, a suspicion of Muslims in the U.S. and even an all out hatred of the Islamic faith has lingered.
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Far-right circles have often called Islam into question. Speaking of Muslims back in 2015, President Donald Trump said: “Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension.”
He said this in connection with his plans to prevent Muslim Immigration into the United States. A plan which he partially saw through by banning refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the country.
It wasn’t just Trump calling out Islam. In 2019, Muslim Advocates called on Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson for what he said about Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and her muslim faith.
In a much more grave instance, also in 2019, a man killed nearly 50 people in a New Zealand mosque. In his manifesto, he named conservative commentator Candace Owens as the person who had most radicalized him. Owens, of course, did not endorse these killings. But her stance on Islam at the time was certainly more negative.
This year, a quick look through the talk shows and podcasts of Carlson, Owens and other right-wing commentators will paint a very different picture of how these groups feel about Muslims. The same pundits who once criticized Islam are now defending it.
To better understand the right’s evolving relationship with Islam, I spoke with Matthew Schmitz. He is the editor of Compact Magazine and the religion editor for the Washington Post’s opinion section. He is also co-host of the “Against The Grain” podcast.
Schmitz also wrote an article back in May about the phenomenon of conservative influencers who have radically changed the way they talk about Islam online. We talked about this trend, how Trump measures up and what it might mean for the future of the Republican Party.
Matthew Peterson is Religion Unplugged’s podcast editor and audience development coordinator. He took part in this past summer’s European Journalism Institute held in Prague, an annual program co-sponsored by The Media Project.