Trump Gains Among Christians in the Middle East

Ray Hanania
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:00:00 -0800
Opinion

Donald Trump may have angered Muslims with his broad swipes at Islamic terrorism and violence, but he has garnered more positive sentiment from Christians in the Middle East.

Most Americans don't understand the diversity of the Middle East, and lump all people with dark skin who look "Middle Eastern" into the label of Muslim. At the same time, most Arabs and Muslims don't understand the complexities of American politics, and are too easily cowed into angry corners of isolation.

Trump's bombastic comments against Muslims and Mexicans have earned him criticism as a racist who uses stereotypes to pander to American voters' fears.
Updated: Thu Feb 18, 2016

Donald Trump may have angered Muslims with his broad swipes at Islamic terrorism and violence, but he has garnered more positive sentiment from Christians in the Middle East.

Most Americans don't understand the diversity of the Middle East, and lump all people with dark skin who look "Middle Eastern" into the label of Muslim. At the same time, most Arabs and Muslims don't understand the complexities of American politics, and are too easily cowed into angry corners of isolation.

Trump's bombastic comments against Muslims and Mexicans have earned him criticism as a racist who uses stereotypes to pander to American voters' fears.

But that is how American politics works; it's not the politicians who are racist, but rather the mainstream Americans who are racist. The politicians pander to that vote. They often use racism as a cattle prod to line up public support. They lie and make promises they don't intend to keep once elected.

Trump is no more racist than the rest of the Republican presidential candidates. Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio all embrace the same racist attitudes toward Muslims and the issue of Mexican immigration.

While Trump bellows flamboyantly racist comments, other Republicans are coy and do not openly show their racism. They play to the majority sentiments of their target constituencies, which, in this case, are Republicans and Conservatives who have a rising fear of Islamic extremism.

Trump, on the other hand, is a high-profile celebrity and TV personality who speaks his mind and is often politically incorrect. Unlike his rivals, Trump shoots from the hip and says the first thing that comes to mind. I don't believe Trump is racist, anti-Mexican or anti-Muslim. He's just not playing the word game that the other politicians spend their entire careers mastering.

Trump's comments have gained strong support among Arab Christians and Middle East Christians who feel as though mainstream Muslim activists have failed to fully confront extremists. Though Muslims reject the radicals' tactics of terrorism and violence, arguing that they twist the true face of Islam, their leadership fails in strategic communications. Trump is honest and compensates for this.

Which Republican presidential candidate has had the courage to criticize war criminals former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney? Trump. He feels that the U.S. war with Iraq failed to bring democracy to Iraq and opened the door to extremist terrorist groups. The majority of Middle East Christians agree with Trump and believe that Saddam Hussein's death opened the floodgates for religious extremism to consume Iraq and allow groups like al-Qaida and ISIS to use the country as a staging ground.

Even President Obama has attacked Trump as the worst Republican presidential candidate — a shallow argument considering Obama has been mediocre at championing the rights of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. But Trump just says what he believes, sometimes without thinking it through.

Trump should learn to qualify his statements about Islamic terrorists and Mexicans, as the vast majority of Muslims and Mexicans are good people who fall prey to violence and crimes. But the fact remains, Middle East Christians, who make up the majority of Arabs in the United States and who will be voting in this election, believe Trump is their man.