Obama and the problem with Muslims

last updated 8 January 2015

What happened

A growing number of American Muslims has expressed disappointment with Barack Obama since a campaign worker prevented two Muslim American women from sitting behind the Democratic presidential candidate at a Michigan rally. Obama called the women to apologize. (ABC News) But the incident still seemed like a snub to a community that voted overwhelmingly for Obama in the primaries. (The New York Times)

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There’s no question that anti-Muslim bigotry poses a particular problem for Obama, said Ed Morrissey in a Hot Air blog. He has had to deal with a “rather persistent smear that he is a crypto-Muslim” since he launched his campaign. But “a leader stands for his principles even when it may prove unpopular—especially when it will prove unpopular.” And by engaging in “passive bigotry” that belies his claim to be an agent of change, Obama shows that he “is no leader at all.”

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