On Saturday's New Day on CNN, after reporting on the murders of two men in Portland who defended two women from being verbally harassed with anti-Muslim rantings, Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was given an unchallenged forum to blame President Donald Trump for the violence.
No room was made for any conservative voices who might have pointed out that anti-Muslim bigotry is inspired primarily by extremists like ISIS and al-Qaeda who have committed terrorism and claimed to do so in the name of Islam.
As Hooper was interviewed by phone at 8:46 a.m. ET, co-host Christi Paul began by asking for his reaction, and he immediately went to indicting President Trump. Hooper:
I think this is just representative of unfortunately of the overall rise in bigotry in our nation within the last months and the year particularly during the presidential campaign. And since the election in November, we've seen minorities increasingly targeted with violence and hate speech. American Muslims have been targeted.
Hooper complained vaguely about President Trump's appointments as he continued:
Mosques have been targeted, but also African-Americans, Hispanics, refugees, immigrants. There's an overall rise in bigotry, unfortunately provoked to a large degree by President Trump's rhetoric, his appointments, his policy proposals. These things have led to an atmosphere in our society in which it seems to be acceptable to target minorities.
Without any pushback, Paul made only one followup question: "So, Mr. Hooper, what would you say to the President if you could sit down with him? Do you think that he could help alleviate some of the problems here?"
Not only was there no opposing viewpoint on Saturday's show, but on Sunday's New Day, former Vice President Joe Biden's scapegoating of President Trump in a commencement address were also highlighted without rebuttal.
Below is a complete transcript of the segment with CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper from the Saturday, May 27, New Day on CNN:
8:46 a.m. ET
CHRISTI PAUL: Mr. Hooper, we appreciate you being here. Thank you. What is your reaction, first of all, to this?IBRAHIM HOOPER, CAIR (by phone): I think this is just representative of unfortunately of the overall rise in bigotry in our nation within the last months and the year particularly during the presidential campaign. And since the election in November, we've seen minorities increasingly targeted with violence and hate speech. American Muslims have been targeted. Mosques have been targeted, but also African-Americans, Hispanics, refugees, immigrants. There's an overall rise in bigotry, unfortunately provoked to a large degree by President Trump's rhetoric, his appointments, his policy proposals. These things have led to an atmosphere in our society in which it seems to be acceptable to target minorities.
PAUL: So, Mr. Hooper, what would you say to the President if you could sit down with him? Do you think that he could help alleviate some of the problems here?
HOOPER: Yes. He needs to speak out directly and forcefully against this rising tide of bigotry. When the person at the top sets the tone either in a negative way or in a positive way, it makes a difference. And he really needs to speak out against particularly anti-Muslim bigotry. As we saw in this case, so often we see American Muslim women who wear headscarves or Islamic attire targeted in this way.
But you see in this case, it wasn't just Muslims who were targeted. This person was apparently ranting about different groups as well. So it's really representative of the phenomenon we're seeing where all minority groups are being targeted -- and particularly American Muslims at this time when the President and his administration is really focusing on Islam and Muslims.
PAUL: Ibrahim Hooper with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, thank you for sharing your perspective with us this morning.
