President Donald Trump Praises Islam at the White House Iftar Dinner in a Model of Political Correctness

Donald Trump at Iftar Dinner

The world of political rhetoric sometimes create strange twists and turns. Yesterday, June 6, President praised Islam during a speech in the East Room of the White House to share the Iftar Dinner with a group of Muslim diplomats. Iftar is a ceremonial dinner held to break fast during Ramadan. Controversially, few  American Muslims were invited, reportedly not even the two American Muslims in Congress.

That Mr. Trump held an Iftar Muslim dinner at all seems remarkable, given the hostility that he has sometimes expressed toward that religion. In January 2017, he complained that his own Justice Department's Muslim travel ban was too "politically correct." Mr. Trump did not hold an Iftar dinner last year, causing some public notice. While he was running for president in 2015 and 2016, opposition to Islam was one of Donald Trump's key issues. He sometimes expressed his hatred of Islam in stark and uncompromising terms. Here are a couple of examples:

• Speaking in Mount Pleasant near the South Carolina coast in December 2015, Mr. Trump read a statement that said: "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." The crowd of his supporters cheered.

• In March 2016, Trump told newscaster Anderson Cooper that:"I think Islam hates us." Trump criticized what he said was the "tremendous hatred" that Islam represented. He acknowledged that there is a difference between Islam and radical Islam, but cautioned that: "it's very hard to define. It's very hard to separate. Because you don't know who's who."

In contrast, Mr. Trump's Iftar dinner speech was utterly non-controversial. His attitude was completely unifying. As you watched it or read it, you would have no idea that opposition to Islam had played such a central role in his campaign – or his presidency.

Mr. Trump began like this:

"Good evening, and thank you all for joining us — this Iftar dinner — as we celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.  It’s a great month.  A lot of friends, a lot of great friends."

Here are some complimentary things that Mr. Trump said about Islam later in his speech:

"In gathering together this evening, we honor a sacred tradition of one of the world’s great religions.  For the Islamic faithful, the Iftar dinner marks the end of the daily period of fasting and spiritual reflection that occurs throughout the holy month of Ramadan.  Iftars mark the coming together of families and friends to celebrate a timeless message of peace, clarity, and love.  There is great love." 

That does not sound like the "Muslims are coming to kill us" theme that we often hear from conservative speakers, or that is implied by Trump's recitation of a popular song that compares refugees to snakes. Later in the speech, Mr. Trump said:

"The partnership and solidarity that we established over the past year has only deepened with time.  So many friendships.  So many meetings, even in the Oval Office.  And we’ve made a lot of progress, I think, a lot of tremendous progress."

And, at the end of the speech, Mr. Trump commented: "Have a very blessed Ramadan.  Thank you very much for being here.  It’s a great honor." 

There was certainly nothing whatsoever wrong with Mr. Trump's speech. It was a model of political correctness. Ramadan is an important part of the Muslim faith, and fasting during that season is one of Islam's pillars. Mr. Trump sent a message, an anti-Muslim message, last year when he did not hold an Iftar dinner. Was he signaling reconciliation? Was he taking a chance of losing the anti-Islam portion of his base? Or was this just a clever political strategy, a chance for him to establish that he was "presidential" while announcing no change in policy? Or was he claiming credit for improved relations with Muslims? Once again, we need to ask: "Will the real Donald Trump please stand up?"

Image: White House YouTube channel

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