Islamophobia in US Election Campaign: Why Muslims Have Become a Key Issue

Washington: It is being described by sections of the US media as America's autumn of Islamophobia. It began with Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson saying that a Muslim should not be the President of the United States. It was followed by Donald Trump who did not refute a man who got up at a Townhall meeting and said President Barack Obama was a Muslim, and basically saying America was better off without the Muslim community.

Fear mongering over Islam, which has been a sub text of election campaigns since 9/11, is now open and overt. Voters we spoke to in Washington DC reflected that ignorance.

One woman, when asked if she thought a Muslim could be President, said, "I thought we already had one."  

"You think President Obama is a Muslim? But he is not," we said.  

"That's what they say but I'm not really sure," she replied adding that she didn't understand why Obama celebrates Muslim holidays.

Another voter said "I think it is fine for a Muslim to run for Presidency but he has to remember what this country was built on, and he or she can't be enforcing the laws of Muslim religion because I believe that they don't really fit the country the way they should."

However, another young voter told us, "a good candidate will be a good person and a good candidate regardless of what their religion is."

Ben Carson's campaign manager told The Huffington Post, "I don't think there's any other religion that says that people of other religions have to be killed."

The Washington Post reports that many Republicans privately agree with comments like these. Two recent polls by Pew Research and The New York Times show how negatively republicans view Muslims - a sentiment that Donald Trump and Ben Carson are now feeding off.