"In the autumn of 2008, Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State under George W. Bush, broke from the Republican Party and endorsed the Democratic nominee for President, Barack Obama. It had been a brutal summer of electoral warfare. Rumors that Obama was Muslim swirled, becoming a significant aspect of the media coverage of his campaign. A group working with his opponent, John McCain, called people in swing states, planted doubts about Obama's religious background, and asked how they would vote if they knew that the Democrat was supported by Hamas."
"McCain's spokesperson defended the calls, but when a voter later said, in a town hall, that she couldn't trust Obama, who was "an Arab," McCain shook his head. "No, ma'am," he said. Obama was a "decent family man." The implication that "an Arab" could not possess those qualities was poisonous enough, but it was Powell who tackled the unspoken. On NBC's "Meet the Press," he acknowledged that Obama "is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian." Nevertheless, Powell went on, what if Obama were Muslim? "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?""
Colin Powell publicly broke with his party in 2008 to endorse Barack Obama amid intense rumors that Obama was Muslim, and campaign operatives planted doubts about his religion. A voter labeled Obama "an Arab," and McCain sought to reassure voters of Obama's decency while Powell explicitly asked whether being Muslim should disqualify someone. Seventeen years later, that question resurfaces in New York City's mayoral contest, where Zohran Mamdani, a thirty-four-year-old democratic socialist and Muslim, leads after the Democratic primary. Critics question Mamdani's experience and affordability plans, but recent critiques have featured clear anti-Muslim undertones, and public figures have amplified provocative imagery.
Read at The New Yorker
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