Representative Andre Carson, a Muslim Democrat from Indiana who was elected in 2008, spoke to CNN yesterday and said he has received death threats he directly attributes to Donald Trump.
“I just received a death threat yesterday in my own office, and it’s largely in part to this toxic environment,” Carson said. “What concerns me is you have the demagoguery taking place from people who are seeking to become president of the United States. You have other politicians who are joining the bandwagon and who are fanning the flames of bigotry.”
I would say Donald Trump deserves a significant portion of the credit (blame?) but he's hardly alone.
Islamophobia in America dates back a long time, but it certainly escalated following the election of President Obama and long before Trump made the decision to run for office.
Republican pundits and politicians have been dogwhistling and, at times, outright saying that President Obama is a secret Muslim Manchurian usurper since before he was even sworn into office. Trump is simply the first man to take command of this fully armed and operational battle-station and successfully use it to become the frontrunner.
No one in the Republican party should be let off the hook or praised for condemning Trump today when they've had plenty of chances to condemn his progenitors and predecessors. Most of them had a hand in fostering today's environment.