The nation is still reeling from the horrific massacre at Pulse -- a queer club in Orlando celebrating Latin Night -- that left 49 dead and 53 injured. This senseless loss of life in the name of homophobic hatred is so sad and scary that it’s difficult to even begin to process. Making the situation even scarier are the responses we are seeing from both of our presumptive presidential candidates.
In his reprehensible response to the massacre, Trump congratulated himself for being right about “radical Islamic terrorism” (failing to acknowledge homophobia) and goaded Hillary Clinton, saying “If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'Radical Islam' she should get out of this race for the Presidency.”
Trump’s outlandish and bigoted comments -- while alarming -- are not surprising. What is surprising -- and equally alarming -- is that Instead of ignoring Trump’s reactionary rhetoric and sticking with the White House’s policy of not using the term due to its blanket demonization of Islam, Clinton caved to Trump. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Clinton stated: “radical jihadism or radical Islamism, I’m happy to say either.” She went on to argue that, “from my perspective, it matters what we do, not what we say. It matters that we got Bin Laden, not what name we called him.”
Clinton’s reaction is troubling and problematic. In fact, it does matter what the prospective leaders of a global superpower say. And given the delicacy of the current moment as we struggle to make sense of this unprecedented tragedy, the words our leaders share with the public have even higher stakes than usual.
Instead of following President Obama’s lead in refusing to use the term “radical Islam” and condemning Trump for using “language that singles out immigrants and suggests entire religious communities are complicit in violence,” Clinton gave in to Trump’s pressure. Through pursuing what she views as politically expedient, Clinton has sent the dangerous message that Trump’s fear-mongering is based in legitimate concerns.
These latest comments from Clinton remind us that we should be concerned about her commitment to combating Islamophobia and protecting the lives of Muslims in the US and abroad. Clinton also asked us to look to her actions, which don’t provide any comfort either -- she supported the Iraq War, unsuccessfully lobbied Obama to arm rebels in Syria, and approved nearly every drone strike carried out by the CIA while she was head of the State Department, signing off on the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
We are living in a time in which acts of terror rooted in hatred of a group of people -- be they LGBTQ people, women, and/or people of color -- feel painfully frequent. To combat bigotry and violence in this country we need a president who understands the vital importance of rooting out hatred through words and actions. We need leaders who champion the notion that we can’t fight hate with more hate. It’s hard not to feel hopeless about the state of American politics when our only choice in these painful times is between bad and worse.
