In the wake of a mass murder in Orlando, Florida, perpetrated by a self-declared follower of the Islamic State, Trump recommitted himself to a ban on entry into the U.S. of all non-citizen Muslims. He even expanded the idea to include potential visitors from any nation or place that he (as president) would deem a threat.
He insinuated that both President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton were ignorant, weak-willed or complicit – or all three – in what he termed a total breakdown of U.S. immigration security.
And like an orange-haired knight of the 12th century, he in effect vowed to lead a crusade — not to capture Old Jerusalem from the infidels, but to protect a New Jerusalem (America) from being overrun by what he repeatedly (at least 18 times) called “radical Islam” or “Islamic terrorists.”
It was surely the most virulent attack on another culture and faith in American politics in decades. And it echoed vitriol of past centuries unleashed against Catholics, Jews, African-Americans and others once deemed to be outsiders.