Anti-Muslim rhetoric rises among Republicans with little pushback from GOP leadership

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is on the rise among some Republican lawmakers. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles wrote that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville compared Muslims to the “enemy inside the gates.” The derogatory language comes against the backdrop of the Iran war and drew sharp condemnation from Democrats. Chuck Schumer, the leader of Senate Democrats, called Tuberville’s post “mindless hate.” For many Muslims, it’s a political moment that carries echoes from the early 2000s, when the 9/11 attacks and the global conflicts that they helped spawn generated hostility toward Muslim communities in the United States.