President Obama Delivered A Speech Condemning Anti-Muslim Bigotry During U.S. Mosque Visit

President Obama Condemned “Inexcusable Political Rhetoric Against Muslim Americans” During His His First Presidential Visit To A US Mosque. On February 3, President Obama made his first presidential visit to a U.S. mosque, the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB), where he condemned anti-Muslim rhetoric. USA Today reported that, “Obama called for unity among American faith communities, recognized the contributions of Muslim citizens, and asked for Muslims around the world to help combat the extremist ideologies of groups like the Islamic State”:

In his first visit to an American mosque Wednesday, President Obama condemned “inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans that has no place in our country.”

Speaking to Muslim Americans at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama called for unity among American faith communities, recognized the contributions of Muslim citizens, and asked for Muslims around the world to help combat the extremist ideologies of groups like the Islamic State. [USA Today, 2/3/16]

Rubio Criticized Obama's Mosque Visit For “Pitting People Against Each Other”

Rubio: Mosque Visit Is An Example Of Obama's “Constant Pitting People Against Each Other.” Marco Rubio responded to President Obama's speech at ISB by calling it another example of Obama's “constant pitting people against each other,” adding, “I can't stand that.” As New York Magazine reported (emphasis added):

Today, President Obama visited a mosque for the first time during his presidency, where he delivered a message of tolerance and inclusion. “You're not Muslim or American, you're Muslim and American,” the president said, “And don't grow cynical.” The visit offended Marco Rubio, who called it yet another example of Obama's “constant pitting people against each other. I can't stand that.” [New York Magazine, 2/3/16]

Media Call Out Rubio For “Contort[ing]” Obama's Remarks, Point Out Underlying Anti-Muslim Sentiment

The Washington Post: Rubio “Somehow Contorted” Obama's Speech. On February 4, the Washington Post's editorial board praised Obama's speech at the Baltimore mosque as “patriotic, inclusive, tolerant and empathetic,” while criticizing Rubio for “contort[ing] the president's message of inclusiveness into 'pitting people against each other.'” The board also called out Rubio for “let[ting] loose a toxic barrage of snark and sanctimony.” From the Post's editorial board:

WHEN PRESIDENT Obama visited a synagogue in Washington last May, his second time at a Jewish house of worship in this country as chief executive, there wasn't a peep from the Republican candidates seeking their party's presidential nomination. Yet when Mr. Obama turned up at the Islamic Society of Baltimore on Wednesday, his first visit to an American mosque after seven years in office, Republican presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) let loose a toxic barrage of snark and sanctimony.

[...]

Mr. Rubio somehow contorted the president's message of inclusiveness into “pitting people against each other.” This, the Floridian said piously, “is hurting our country badly.”

What's hurting the country badly are hate-mongers who would rather betray American values by appealing to bigotry than address the reality of 2 million to 3 million American Muslims, the overwhelming majority of them patriotic, who are as entitled to dignity and respect as everyone else. [The Washington Post, 2/4/16]

Vox: Rubio's Criticism “Showed How To Get Away With” Anti-Muslim Rhetoric. A February 4 Vox article decried the anti-Muslim sentiment behind Marco Rubio's remarks, explaining that “Rubio's line of criticism ... targeted the very idea that anti-Muslim bigotry is a problem worth confronting.” The article also highlighted how Rubio's response shows the double standard media has for calling out “establishment versus non-establishment” candidates, noting that despite the fact Rubio's “seemingly Islamophobic comments” left “the possibility for dog whistling” the media let it slip. From Vox (emphasis added):

But Rubio's line of criticism didn't target Obama. It targeted the very idea that anti-Muslim bigotry is a problem worth confronting, implying that such bigotry is not just permissible but indeed serves an important function.

“Look at today - he gave a speech at a mosque,” Rubio said at a New Hampshire town hall. “Oh, you know, basically implying that America is discriminating against Muslims. Of course there's going to be discrimination in America of every kind. But the bigger issue is radical Islam.”

Rubio then compared anti-Muslim bigotry to friendly sports rivalries, and argued that Obama's speech was really the thing causing division. “But again, it's this constant pitting people against each other -- that I can't stand that. It's hurting our country badly,” Rubio said. “We can disagree on things, right? I'm a Dolphin fan, you're a Patriot fan.” He warned that Obama was dividing America “along ethnic lines and racial lines and economic lines and religious lines.”

But what is really striking to me about Rubio's comments is the media's reaction, which has been fairly muted in contrast to how it covered Islamophobic comments from Donald Trump. That's not to say that the media is endorsing or ignoring Rubio here, but the pretty clear distinction in coverage shows how an establishment candidate like Rubio can navigate the media's unwritten rules and get away with participating in the tide of Islamophobia that has already become violent.

[...]

What Rubio has revealed here, intentionally or not, is how a major political candidate can slip at least seemingly Islamophobic comments past the media without generating the same level of scrutiny and adversarial coverage that Trump has drawn.

Yes, there is the possibility for dog whistling here, which leaves the media with little to fact-check or challenge on factual grounds. But, much more than that, there is a difference of establishment versus non-establishment. [Vox, 2/4/16]

The Atlantic: Rubio's Comments Only Make Sense “If One Believes That Islam Is Inherently Incompatible With American Values.” A February 4 article from The Atlantic highlighted the “rich irony to Rubio's remarks” noting that Rubio was criticizing Obama for making generalizations while he himself was making a “sweeping characterization of Muslims.” The article also noted that Obama's speech “bore little resemblance to Rubio's description,” adding that Rubio's comments only make sense “if one believes that Islam is inherently incompatible with American values”:

More surprising was Marco Rubio's response:

“He gave a speech at a mosque, basically implying that America is discriminating against Muslims. Of course there's discrimination in America, of every kind. But the bigger issue is radical Islam. This constant pitting people against each other, I can't stand that. It's hurting our country badly.”

Reading Rubio's remarks, anyone who heard Obama must have thought, “Did he watch the same speech I did?” The answer is most likely not: Rubio is in the middle of a hectic New Hampshire campaign swing, and it's hard to imagine he spent an hour watching Obama speak. Suffice it to say that the president's address bore little resemblance to Rubio's description.

In fact, Rubio's charge of divisiveness only makes sense if one believes that Islam is inherently incompatible with American values. Obama explicitly rejected this viewWednesday, speaking of all the ways that Islam has been a part of the United States since colonial times, and telling his audience, “You're not Muslim or American. You're Muslim and American.” (The idea that Islam, a long-standing part of the national culture, is not American echoes arguments that white culture is somehow the “true” American culture, and African American culture is separable from it.)

[...]

There's a rich irony to Rubio's remarks: He is upset that Obama would offer generalizations about Americans' attitudes, but sees no problem with equally sweeping characterizations of Muslims. But although Obama did not, in fact, say that Americans are anti-Islam, these poll numbers show that he would have been largely accurate if he had. Reflexive attacks on even the most broad, inclusive messages, like the ones Obama delivered Wednesday, seem certain to only widen the gap between American Muslims and their fellow citizens. [The Atlantic, 2/4/16]