MAGA and Islamophobia

Just as I sat down to write this morning, I changed my mind about the topic I would address. I had planned to describe a number of legal developments surrounding the Trump administration, but I've decided that there is a more pressing matter. Or, at least one that I find more infuriating. That is the growing and increasingly vocal Islamophobia among many MAGA supporters.

I have written before about the public displays of Islamophobia that have resulted from the victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary by Zohran Mamdani. The first example of Islamophobia that I will describe today is another such instance. Jack Posobiec, the one-time Pizzagate conspiracy theorist and currently a senior editor of Human Events, a conservative online publication, was a featured speaker at this year's National Conservatism Conference or NatCon. NatCon is a conservative political affairs conference organized by the Edmund Burke Foundation. Speaking at the event, Posobiec is quoted as saying:

New York, our greatest city, is on the precipice of being run by a Zohran Mamdani — I think we realize that something has gone absolutely wrong … As I stand here today, we are less than 10 years away from one of America's great cities being run by a Muhammad.

At one time, there were fears of electing Catholics to office due to concern that they would be loyal to the Pope rather than the Constitution. Today, this is recognized as an absurd prejudice. However, Muslims are now routinely subject to similar bigotry. Sadly, the MAGA movement has shown itself to not only be tolerant of such bias but welcoming.

Posobiec is not a fringe figure on the right, though he probably deserves to be. He has regular contact with top MAGA officials. In February, he was invited to participate in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first trip overseas, although Posobiec ended up not attending. However, that same month, Posobiec did accompany Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a trip to Ukraine. In both cases, Posobiec was invited as a member of the press. At NatCon, Posobiec was participating in a conference attended by many top officials of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump's administration, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought, and Border Czar Tom Homan.

At NatCon, Posobiec was not alone in spouting blatant Islamophobia. During one panel session, Josh Hammer — a senior editor-at-large at Newsweek — argued that Jews and Catholics have always been part of the American story. However, he wondered what the Founding Fathers would have to say about "Mohammedism." When another panel member made a joke suggesting he wouldn't mind getting rid of American Muslims, the audience erupted in laughter. For the record, many of the Founding Fathers were quite tolerant of Muslims, of whom there were many among the slaves imported from Africa. According to the U.S. Library of Congress:

Campaigning for religious freedom in Virginia, [Thomas] Jefferson followed Locke, his idol, in demanding recognition of the religious rights of the "Mahamdan," the Jew and the "pagan." Supporting Jefferson was his old ally, Richard Henry Lee, who had made a motion in Congress on June 7, 1776, that the American colonies declare independence. "True freedom," Lee asserted, "embraces the Mahomitan and the Gentoo (Hindu) as well as the Christian religion."

The first panel discussion at NatCon this year was titled, "The Threat of Islamism in America." The panel included Ryan Girdusky, a onetime CNN commentator. Another panelist, Wade Miller, stated that "Islam is anti-Christianity, authoritarian and against our entire constitutional order." Hammer, who is quoted above, also told a reporter from the Religious News Service that "I think that Islamic immigration should be zero today."

But the Queen of anti-Muslim bigotry is all-around nutjob Laura Loomer, a self-described "Proud Islamophobe". Last month, Loomer learned that a handful of children from Gaza, along with their caregivers, had been allowed to come to the U.S. for medical care. These were children with horrific injuries, including amputations. Loomer quickly created controversy over the children, calling them "Islamic invaders." Loomer claims that she personally spoke with putative Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in actuality mostly devotes himself to deporting students while other Trump officials perform normal Secretary of State duties, about the children. Rubio reacted by cancelling all visas for Palestinians. Loomer then went on a witch hunt for any Muslim influence within the Department of State.

Late last month, the State Department fired its top press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs after Loomer accused him of being a "Jihadi Muslim." Loomer took credit for the firing, though it appears that internal State Department politics also played a role. Loomer has also launched repeated attacks on Mariya Ilyas, a Pakistani immigrant who now works in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Loomer called her a "Trump-hating radical Muslim who pushed this third world Islamist garbage".

Loomer is particularly obsessed with the Muslim practice of washing their feet before prayer. Today, she posted a photo of a Muslim woman in an airport bathroom washing her toddler's feet in the sink. She somehow linked this to the September 11 attacks. For days, Loomer has complained about foot-washing facilities that were installed in the State Department. One of Loomer's complaints about Ilyas is that Loomer alleges that Ilyas pushed "for Islamic foot washing stations and Islamic prayer rooms at the US State Department."

Loomer recently called for deporting "All non-citizen Muslims". In reaction to a peaceful march in protest of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Loomer asked, "Why are Jihadis allowed to terrorize Americans with no consequences?" and suggested that they be waterboarded. Loomer recently tweeted that if Mamdani is elected Mayor, "Non-Muslims will be murdered in the streets by Muslims everyday."

During the presidential campaign, Trump reached out to Muslims in Michigan. He managed to receive the support of the Muslim Mayor of Hamtramck, Amer Ghalib. In return, Trump nominated him to be the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait. Now, Loomer is attempting to derail the nomination, calling Ghalib a "radical Muslim" and Hamtramck "a cesspool for Islamic terror sympathizers."

Loomer's habit is to take actions or statements by Muslims out of context and either spin them or outright lie about them to represent Muslims as radical and anti-American. She then tweets relentlessly about it until she either gets results or eventually moves on to another topic. Her X feed is a constant stream of anti-Muslim vitriol. Needless to say, if she were doing this with regard to almost any other minority, she would be shunned by polite society. Instead, she is able to meet with Trump and influence high-level personnel changes. She recently managed to block Senator Mark Warner from visiting a government agency in Virginia as part of his oversight duties.

Even Elon Musk has become anti-Muslim, with Loomer's encouragement and approval. Musk has retweeted tweets by British anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson opposing the immigration of Muslims and calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to be banned. Musk is emblematic of many on the American right-wing in that they are influenced by Islamophobic Europeans.

Republicans in general and MAGAs in particular have become anti-Muslim for a number of reasons. Like Musk, many take their cues from right-wing Europeans with whom they have close alliances. The anti-Muslim President of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, for instance, is very popular among this crowd. Others who are Christian Nationalists and some Jews are opposed due to religious reasons. For many, it is simple xenophobia. Muslims are different, and they don't like anyone who is different.

Trump himself is an odd case. Trump really has no values. Everything to him is transactional. If Muslims can personally benefit him, he will be supportive of them. If he can gain an advantage by being anti-Muslim, he will be anti-Muslim. He has no problem being one one day and the other the next day. During Trump's first term, he famously implemented a "Muslim ban." But then he went on to have very close relations with the Gulf Arabs. He campaigned as being friendly to Muslims in Michigan, but now leads a party that is increasingly vocal about being anti-Muslim. Republicans more broadly are similarly willing to side with Muslims when there is something to be gained. For instance, when Muslim families opposed books that are inclusive of LGBTQ families being read in school, conservatives were thrilled and gave them full support. But this is clearly little more than a marriage of convenience. Generally, the Republican Party, from top to bottom, is anti-Muslim these days.