Over the past few years, Islam has risen to the top of the list of concerns thanks to the Syrian refugee crisis and the numerous terrorist attacks committed by radical Muslims in the west. Islamist terrorism particularly became a hot topic after the Orlando shooting, where Omar Mateen murdered 49 people at a gay nightclub after he pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was right to condemn Omar Mateen's actions and correctly determined radical Islam to be the motivation behind his homophobic massacre. President Barack Obama, however, refused to acknowledge the shooting as Islamic terrorism, prompting Trump to criticize Obama for not calling the attack for what it was.
In defense of his lack of acknowledgement, Obama explained that he does not want to "lump [Islamic terrorists] into the billion Muslims that exist around the world, including in this country, who are peaceful, who are responsible, who, in this country, are fellow troops and police officers and fire fighters and teachers and neighbors and friends" at the CNN Presidential Town Hall.
Obama's defense is nothing short of hyperbole. Trump did not conflate all Muslims as terrorists. He said that the source of Omar Mateen's extremism was radical Islam. This turned out to be true as the mosque Omar used to attend invited a cleric Farrokh Sekaleshfar in April, who said that slaughtering is a "compassionate" act.
One of the most important things in solving a problem is to identify the source. Trump did just that while Obama and other people of the left refused to do so. Instead, many leftists condemned Trump for being Islamophobic (even though it is not irrational to fear Islam) and racist (even though Islam is not a race). Even worse, these leftists would also condemn other critics of Islam for the same things regardless of whether the criticism was warranted or if the critics were of the left or right.
The constant labeling of critics of Islam as Islamophobes and racists was one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton lost the election. The left has refused to engage in a deep discussion on the violent ideology of Islam and how destructive it can be. Instead, many leftists resort to labels to shut down whatever constructive communication that could have existed. Hillary Clinton was no exception to this and that turned many voters away from her.
