Islamophobia and U.S. Political Rhetoric

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R‑Ala., is standing by a social media post in which he replied to an image juxtaposing the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks with a photo of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a Ramadan iftar, adding the caption, "The enemy is inside the gates." In a March 17 interview with DC News Now, Tuberville said he "just go[es] by" Mamdani’s "rhetoric" and accused the mayor of dividing the country, while insisting he does not care about a person’s religion. Tuberville went further, asserting that "if you teach and preach Sharia law, if you bow down to the Quran, it teaches death to Americans" and posting that the Quran is "pretty CLEAR" in instructing followers to kill all non‑Muslims — statements that mischaracterize the text, which does not refer to Americans and does not contain such blanket instructions. Mamdani, who is Muslim, and other Democrats sharply criticized the "enemy inside the gates" post, with Mamdani responding that Washington should show as much outrage over child hunger as over him "break[ing] bread with New Yorkers" at an iftar. The episode is fueling online backlash and intensifying scrutiny of anti‑Muslim rhetoric from elected officials at a moment when tensions over the Iran war and domestic security are already high.