By that “anti-Muslim hate,” Mother Jones writer Noah Lanard means opposition to Sharia. If you asked Lanard if he supported equality of rights for women, he would say yes. If you asked Lanard if he supported the freedom of speech, he would say yes. If you asked him if he thought people should be denied basic rights on the basis of their religious beliefs, he would say no. If you asked him if he would support killing people who rejected the dominant ideology in their society, he would say no. If you asked if he thought homosexuals should be put to death, he would say no. Yet all that is Sharia, and Noah Lanard is certain that opposition to Sharia is “anti-Muslim hate.”
“Republican Islamophobia Has Reached Shocking New Levels,” by Noah Lanard, Mother Jones, April 3, 2026:
If you have the good fortune of not spending time on Elon Musk’s X, it is hard to grasp just how blatant the anti-Muslim hate coming from GOP lawmakers—and tolerated by their leaders—has become. Take Rep. Andy Ogles, the Tennessee Republican who declared last month that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” Since that post, Ogles has shared anti-Muslim content on X more than 100 times.
Ogles is not alone, either. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) wrote on X in February that, “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” He added this month: “We need more Islamophobia, not less.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), meanwhile, recently shared photos of the 9/11 terror attacks alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani with the caption, “The enemy is inside the gates.”
In response, Republicans leaders have done little. House Speaker Mike Johnson said last month that he talked to his members about “our tone and our message,” while noting that he would use different language. At the same time, he’s tried to explain away the anti-Muslim rhetoric by saying that there is a “lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem.” Johnson took a stronger line later in March when he said in relation to Fine that “we should never disclaim whole groups of people.” He added, “Obviously, we love Muslim people.” But he has imposed no real consequences thus far. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that he does not like claims that Muslims do not belong in the United States or that they are the “enemy.” Despite that, he has not criticized Tuberville directly.
On its own, it is not surprising to see right-wing members of Congress targeting Muslims. Donald Trump built his political career on it. During his first presidential campaign, a Muslim ban was one of his signature campaign proposals. When an attendee at one of his rallies claimed President Obama was a Muslim born outside the United States in 2015, Trump—an early proponent of the birther conspiracy theory—did nothing to correct him. What stands out now is how aggressive and common the bigotry has become.
At last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Bo French, a Republican running to be Texas Railroad Commissioner declared, “The problem is, we call it Sharia [law], but the problem is actually Islam.” In Congress, a recently launched “Sharia-Free America Caucus” now has 60 members, including Fine and Ogles. Another member, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who is the son-in-law of right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza, has written that “Islam is incompatible with our culture and our governing system.” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) called last month for banning “Islamic immigration,” as well denaturalizing and deporting people who are already US citizens.
The legislators attacking Muslims in the most aggressive terms today have also been loyal supporters of Israel in a party that is increasingly divided over support for the nation, particularly since the start of the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran. Their Islamophobia directs animus at a more familiar Republican scapegoat at a time when people on the far-right are flirting with, or openly embracing, antisemitism. It also affords lawmakers like Ogles a chance to generate outrage without major risk to reelection. In the modern GOP, attacking Israel still carries serious political risk; going after Muslims does not….
40 rounds says
Unlike the far left, conservatives can oppose something without hating that something
Taffy says
I’m surprised that Mother Jones magazine is on Robert’s reading list. That’s a publication that I would not waste time reading.
James Lincoln says
Taffy,
It is likely that Robert Spencer reads leftist rags like Mother Jones in order to know what the enemy is thinking.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Looking at the graphic above, Mother Jones actually thinks there is a population crisis? Of too many people on earth? Actually, the trend is the opposite – too few people, which is why the West is trying to solve that w/ immigration. But overall, the human birth rate has gone down, and the more we have Boomers and Gen-X’ers dying off, population will start leveling off as well. And even decline to levels we saw last century
somehistory says
If he would answer as Mr. Spencer writes that he would, then if right in his claim against the GOP, he too is guilty of anti muzzie hating.
Not wanting to be forced to bow to the beast doesn’t necessarily mean “hate.” But when it goes on and on and muzzies of cair and in the House, and in local governments expressing their bone-deep hatred of the rest of us, while they whine and complain about being hated, it might bring people closer to actually hating the muzzies who reveal what they plan for us.
Hating islime? Well yes, as that is the only reasonable response to that demonic organization of the most evil things anyone could ever imagine.
James Lincoln says
somehistory,
To your point, if someone does not hate islam, there is something fundamentally wrong with that person.
They are either grossly uninformed – or they are evil.
somehistory says
Thank you, James. For sure, only two choices.
John Pepple says
I’ve heard that the Chinese think Muslims are mentally ill. I vastly prefer their attitude to that of our leftists.
somehistory says
Mental ill criminals are often locked away for many, many years.
Rodger Cottrell says
Well said and spot on.
somehistory says
Thank you, Rodger.
Westman says
How could we be more concise? We find most Muslims to be normal people. However, we find Islam and Sharia to be a primitive, conquering, brutalizing, system that denies women equal rights and is starkly incompatible with Democracy.
If anything, integrating Muslims are exceptional people who have escaped some demands of Sharia to pursue their full potential. They have made outstanding contributions to Western society.
We are not anti-(Muslim people). We are, however, anti-Sharia and will do everything necessary to stop it from being a ruling government over our Democracy – and we do mean everything. One might look at the human cost of WWII to understand there were no limits.
Are we anti-Muslim? No. Are we anti-Islam when it intends to force Sharia on us? Absolutely!
All Mother Jones’ Noah Lanard seems to demonstrate is his useful ignorance of Islam and Sharia. He’s spreading mental opiates to the ignorant while scratching their itching ears.
James Lincoln says
Westman says,
“We are not anti-(Muslim people).”
With respect:
I’m not sure how one can be anti-islam – and still support its devout followers.
somehistory says
I have to agree with James.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Actually, I am anti-muslim. Using the term “muslim” here as describing a person that knowingly follows and adheres to islam. Unlike a lot of people on our side, I don’t pretend to “love muslims”. If they want to lose my disdain for them, they can easily achieve that by abandoning islam as a belief system
Savvy Kafir says
Muslims are the active agents of Islam. Of course we (well-informed counter-jihadis) are anti-Muslim. The West is in serious danger of being destroyed by the Muslims living among us. It is truly an us-or-them situation— created by their evil religion. We cannot afford to feel empathy for our enemies. Not when so much is at stake. We have to see them as enemies, period. Enemies that need to be expelled — no matter the cost.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I wonder where Mother Jones stood on the issue of
trans-womenbiological men in women’s spaces such as locker rooms, or winning female trophies in sports, like Lea Thomas? I suspect that they supported it, which pretty much gives lie to any claim that it’s a feminist organizationWestman says
By the way, there is no population crisis. AI is slated to remove millions of jobs from human access within a few years, resulting in far more unemployed people with no hope of employment. We don’t need more dependents demanding OPM forever.
Increasing immigration would be absolutely moronic, not to mention that H1-b visas are already causing unemployment among the skilled and should be stopped. They are a result of Corporate-University cooperative greed and their treasonous anti-American attitudes.
The whole premise of the Mother Jones story is bathed in purposful ignorance to promote an unwise immigration policy that gets liberals more voters and the US, an economic disaster.
Tony says
Islam is a totalitarian ideology of hatred and discrimination against Christians and Jews and all Non-Muslims as taught by Allah in Islam’s Qur’an. ALLAH claims MUSLIMS are a greater TERROR than Allah when Allah in Qur’an 59:13 says, “You[Muslims] are a greater terror in their chests than Allah. This is because they[Jews & Christians] are people who do not understand.” Allah in Qur’an 5:51 says, “O you who have believed[Muslims], DO NOT TAKE the Jews and the Nasara(Christians) as friends. They are friends to one another. And whoever among you takes them as friends, so surely he is of them. Surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.” Also, Allah says that Jews are the worst enemies of the Muslims in Qur’an 5:82.
tgusa says
The left (democrats) represent everything that is anti Constitutional, anti (historically) American values. Like it or not the left (democrats) have declared a rebellion against America Americans and American values. We are in a cold civil war instigated by the democrats.
jerry glenn says
The problem isn’t Islamophobia. It’s Islamopandering.
WPM says
It would be like saying your “anti-German” for hating the Nazi ideology in the early 1930s when Nazism was threating the whole world before it starting taking over large areas of Europe.. Sharia is a supremist law system making unbelievers a under class that are either slaves or should be exterminated in the long run. Islam is busy taking over western Europe thru lawfare ,welfare ,jihadist action both violent and non-violent. It is what Islam and sharia law demand total submission to Islam and Moslems subverting ,western law ,cultural equal rights under law .The democrats ,progressives ,and western communist are willing to work with Islam to get and stay in power. They do not know or are willing not to believe what happen to the Iranian communist when the jihadist GRAB power in Iran IN 1979 they where the first to be killed off .Useful idiots all ,tools to be dis guarded when their usefulness was done.
OLD GUY says
It is hard to not be anti-islam when you look at Islam’s track record of human rights and terrorism. Islam created Islamophobia by its own actions, I never thought about Islam until Islam started their terrorist programs.
John Pepple says
Actually, I hate leftists more than I hate Muslims. Muslims are simply being Muslims, and if leftists hadn’t let them into the West, we would not be thinking about them very much, and we certainly would not be worrying about Muslims taking over our society. But leftists are being completely irrational about Muslims. Presumably, leftism is part of the Enlightenment, and the enlightened way to treat unenlightened people is to encourage them to become enlightened. Instead, leftists have decided that the problem is not Muslims, but whites in the Western world, even though the least enlightened white is still more enlightened than the average Muslim. As for Muslims, not only do they not encourage them to become more enlightened, they actually will side with Muslims even when they are being horribly unenlightened.
I was on the left for a while, but I certainly did not join the left for this dreadful nonsense.
Huapakechi says
Looking back on the history of islam from its’ founding to the present, there has been no cult or belief system that has inflicted more death and misery during the span of its’ existence than islam. They refuse to denounce the violent precepts of their cult. That is reason enough to reject them. Their protestations of ‘peaceful’ belief ring hollow when their koran instructs them to lie.
gravenimage says
Hard-left Mother Jones magazine decries ‘blatant anti-Muslim hate coming from GOP lawmakers’
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Not sure I knew that Mother Jones magazine was still around. Why exaclty do they *not* hate Shari’ah law?