MaddowBlog-As the midterms draw closer, Republicans' anti-Muslim messaging gets less subtle

[LetMyPeopleVote]

GOP officials have sent an unmistakable signal: In the contemporary Republican Party, animus toward Muslim Americans is tolerated, if not encouraged.

As the midterms draw closer, and the GOP looks for villains, party officials have sent an unmistakable signal:

In the contemporary Republican politics, overt anti-Muslim bigotry is certainly tolerated, if not encouraged.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-17T20:23:29.198Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/as-the-midterms-draw-closer-republicans-anti-muslim-messaging-gets-less-subtle

Rep. Randy Fine’s track record of peddling Islamophobic rhetoric was already well established, so few were surprised when the Florida Republican declared online on Sunday, “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”....

This dovetailed with an abrupt GOP reprise of anti-Muslim nonsense from 12 years ago with proposals to ban sharia law.

Then last week The New York Times reported:

Republican officials and candidates in Texas have shifted their rhetorical attack lines from the border fears that dominated recent elections to the state’s growing Muslim population, with language that echoes the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric has unnerved many in the state’s Islamic community while sending signals to Republicans outside Texas who might be searching for rhetorical targets now that the nation’s southwestern border has grown quiet.

As recently as November 2024, Republicans made gains with Arab and Muslim voters. The party doesn’t seem especially eager to return the favor.

There’s a reason the organization that used to be Arab Americans for Trump decided to change its name.

The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone recently wrote, “Almost a decade removed from President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban Muslims from entering the country during his first term — a vile passion project that has been given new life in his second presidency — a growing number of House and Senate Republicans are taking Islamophobia to a new level, actively calling for discrimination against Muslims and even arguing that some should be denaturalized and deported from the United States.”

Perticone’s piece was published eight weeks ago. Republican officials and candidates aren’t just proving his thesis, they’re also working to make the problem worse.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. The top Democrat in the U.S. House takes aim at Rep. Randy Fine R-FL, calling him a 'disgrace' to the Congress.

Link to tweet