Obama-Fearing Islamophobic Conservatives Have Clearly Forgotten About Rev. Jeremiah Wright

With the recent and reoccurring Islamophobia spouted at Donald Trump’s campaign events, it is apparent that the Obama-is-a-Muslim myth is anything but fading.

A recent article I wrote examined a CNN poll showing, among other things, that 29% of Americans believe that President Obama is a Muslim. The poll also shows that an astounding 45% of Americans who consider themselves conservative believe this to be true.

As much as this exemplifies the insanity of contemporary Republican politics, it also reveals conservatives’ bad memory.

Remember back in March 2008, when candidate Barack Obama was embroiled in an epic controversy over comments made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright? Back when Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric gripped the nation with indignation and outrage, and threatened to derail Obama’s campaign?

If you can remember that far, you’ll remember that Wright was a senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. That’s right, Christ. Not Allah, not Muhammad — Christ. And if you cannot remember that far, look it up; none of the information regarding the Jeremiah Wright controversy is secret or has been erased, despite the media power that wingnuts believe Obama possesses.

It is ironic that many of the same people who genuinely believe incorrectly that Obama is Muslim today were horrified that Obama had associated with Wright and attended his church services for years. Wright’s views were a big component of the invented narrative surrounding Obama’s supposedly anti-colonialist and racist philosophies. They also made conservatives legitimately fear that Obama was a Black Panther and that if elected Obama would enslave all white people.

Those fears clearly did not amount to much, but the irrational hatred for President Obama obviously persists.

Image via USA Today