
Leading the Islamophobic charge pays off in Republican primaries
Despite a bit of a swoon, Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican presidential field while Ben Carson has enjoyed a bit of a polling surge in recent weeks, in part due to his comments asserting that a Muslim should never be allowed to become president. Thanks to the wide range of questions that Public Policy Polling frequently asks, we now have even more data to illustrate just how Republican voters are bigoted against Muslims.
In PPP's latest survey, this time in North Carolina, 72 percent said that a Muslim should never ever be allowed to be president, echoing Carson's statements. An identical 72 percent also agree with a recent Donald Trump claim that President Obama is waging a war on Christianity. Finally, a 40 percent said the practice of Islam should be outright illegal, an even greater proportion that the 30 percent of Iowa Republicans who told PPP the same thing a week ago.
It's not hard to see why a primary electorate that holds Islamophobic views is gravitating to the candidates who espouse those views most vocally. Trump is holding steady from PPP's last poll in August, leading the field with 26 percent, while Carson has surged to a second-place showing with 21. It's ironic that the party loves to claim strict fealty to the Constitution is more than eager to ignore some of our founding document's most fundamental protections—like the freedom of religion.