Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Sunday's The Weekend, MS NOW co-host Jonathan Capehart stretched to link anti-Muslim comments by Republicans to recent terrorist attacks at a Michigan synagogue and at Old Dominion University even though Muslims were the perpetrators and not the victims in both cases.
Co-host Eugene Daniels began the segment by reading from a couple of recent statements by Republican members of Congress that were critical of Muslims, and then complained about how House Speaker Mike Johnson responded as the MS NOW host recalled: "And I think the thing that is like concerning -- frustrating all the words is that like the leadership of the party has said nothing. ... He said he did -- he added to it, right."
Then came a clip of Speaker Johnson alluding to concerns about the possibility of sharia law being used in the U.S.:
MIKE JOHNSON, HOUSE SPEAKER: Look, I've spoken to those members and all members as I always do about our tone and our message and what we say. There's a -- look, there's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose sharia law in America is a serious problem. That's what animates this. And that's -- that's the, you know, the language that people use. It's different language than I would use, but I think that that's a serious issue.
After Daniels replied by arguing that there is no push to use sharia law, Capehart jumped in to complain about the Speaker:
With his own little soft tones, as he talks reasonably about something so outrageous. And more to the point, I think we are in this in -- this moment because we have a President of the United States who talks like this, who talked like this on the campaign. He ran an openly racist, xenophobic, white nationalist campaign. And so we should not be surprised when members of Congress post things on social media like that and get no pushback.
And you get nonsense that we just -- like we just heard from the Speaker of the House, this will not change until we have leaders. We have grown up adult supervision in the Capitol, in the White House, who take a step back and rein in the crazies who foment stuff like this, because right now we're talking about words and we're talking about social media posts.
Without mentioning that the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks were Muslims, Capehart concluded: "But we just saw this week incidents -- the -- the -- the synagogue in Michigan, a shooting at Old Dominion. Like, these words, this moment that we're in can have very real consequences for people."
Co-host Jackie Alemany then went along with Capehart's premise as she responded:
The Washington Post took stock of just how pervasive of a problem this kind of rhetoric has become. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 100 GOP members of Congress have posted about Islam or Muslims, and almost all of those posts have been negative, according to the Post's analysis. Two-thirds of those posts have mentioned radical Islam, sharia law, extremism or terrorism while several have called for Muslims to be deported.
She added:
I fear that like this, this is not going to -- to change, right? I mean, this is why we've had conversations since 2015 about the importance of political rhetoric, how it leads to political violence. And now, 12 years later, you're seeing a vast majority of Republican congresspeople engaging and dabbling and propagating this kind of language that it is essentially becoming mainstream.
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's The Weekend
March 15, 2026
8:32 a.m. Eastern
EUGENE DANIELS: And I think the thing that is like concerning -- frustrating all the words is that like the leadership of the party has said nothing. And so, you know --
JACKIE ALEMANY: Well, he said something.
DANIELS: He said he did -- he added to it, right. And he tries to -- and Mike Johnson -- we're going to play it. Play Mike Johnson.
MIKE JOHNSON, HOUSE SPEAKER: Look, I've spoken to those members and all members as I always do about our tone and our message and what we say. There's a -- look, there's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose sharia law in America is a serious problem. That's what animates this. And that's -- that's the, you know, the language that people use. It's different language than I would use, but I think that that's a serious issue.
DANIELS: Speaker, who is demanding --
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right.
DANIELS: -- to impose sharia law in this country? There is I have not seen one elected Muslim official in this country saying that they would want sharia law in this country. That is not something that is actually happening. And so he likes to put a glean -- a sheen on the Islamophobia and racism coming out of his party and from his own members.
CAPEHART: With his own little soft tones, as he talks reasonably about something so outrageous. And more to the point, I think we are in this in -- this moment because we have a President of the United States who talks like this, who talked like this on the campaign. He ran an openly racist, xenophobic, white nationalist campaign.
DANIELS: Three of them.
CAPEHART: And so we should not be surprised when members of Congress post things on social media like that and get no pushback. And you get nonsense that we just -- like we just heard from the Speaker of the House, this will not change until we have leaders. We have grown up adult supervision in the Capitol, in the White House, who take a step back and rein in the crazies who foment stuff like this, because right now we're talking about words and we're talking about social media posts. But we just saw this week incidents -- the -- the -- the synagogue in Michigan, a shooting at Old Dominion. Like, these words, this moment that we're in can have very real consequences for people.
ALEMANY: The Washington Post took stock of just how pervasive of a problem this kind of rhetoric has become. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 100 GOP members of Congress have posted about Islam or Muslims, and almost all of those posts have been negative, according to the Post's analysis. Two-thirds of those posts have mentioned radical Islam, sharia law, extremism or terrorism. While several have called for Muslims to be deported. I -- I -- I fear that like this, this is not going to -- to change, right? I mean, this is why we've had conversations since 2015 about the importance of political rhetoric, how it leads to political violence. And now, 12 years later, you're seeing a vast majority of Republican congresspeople engaging and dabbling and propagating this kind of language that it is essentially becoming mainstream.
. steve malzberg
