WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 21, 2026) — The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) today released “Manufacturing the Muslim Threat: Inside the GOP’s Anti-Muslim Social Media and Legislative Campaign,” a comprehensive report documenting a sustained and coordinated campaign of anti-Muslim bigotry by Republican elected officials across the US.
The report analyzes 1,111 social media posts by 46 Republican elected officials published between February 2025 and March 2026, alongside eight pieces of Sharia-related legislation introduced across both chambers of Congress and the rapid growth of the Sharia Free America Caucus to 62 members. In total, 89 Republican elected officials participated in at least one track of the campaign.
“It is a coordinated campaign that uses social media to generate fear, legislation to codify that fear into policy, and a formal congressional caucus to institutionalize it. Nearly 90 Republican elected officials are involved. The scale and speed of this escalation is without recent precedent in American politics,” said Niala Mohammad, Program Lead on Islamophobia and Anti-Migrant Hate at CSOH.
The report’s analysis is grounded in the Dangerous Speech Project’s (DSP) framework for assessing whether speech is likely to inspire violence. DSP contributed directly to the report and concluded that many of the posts constitute dangerous speech that places Muslim Americans at risk of violence.
“The dangerous speech analysis is particularly concerning. When influential speakers use inflammatory language on credible platforms to audiences already primed by years of anti-Muslim rhetoric, the research is clear that violence becomes more likely. Every element of that framework is present here,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, Executive Director of CSOH.
Key Findings
- The hate campaign originated with a single post by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on February 24, 2025, amplifying a claim by anti-Muslim provocateur Amy Mek that a Muslim-led housing development near Dallas was a “Sharia city.” Within thirteen months, it grew into a coordinated movement spanning social media, legislation, and a formal congressional caucus.
- Forty-six Republican elected officials published 1,111 posts targeting Muslim Americans with bigotry and conspiracy theories between February 2025 and March 2026. Monthly volume increased by 1,450 percent over the study period.
- Five members of Congress produced 73 percent of all posts.
- Texas and Florida-based officials produced 71 percent of all posts.
- The “Sharia” conspiracy appeared in 48 percent of posts, serving as the campaign’s master frame.
- The language of “invasion,” “conquest,” and “Islamification” mirrors the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, recasting Muslims as a population threat engaged in deliberate civilizational conquest.
- Sixty-four posts called explicitly for the deportation or denaturalization of Muslims. Sixty-three used dehumanizing language, labeling Islam and Muslims as “demons,” “death cult,” “cancer,” and “plague.”
- Eight bills referencing Sharia were introduced across both chambers of Congress between June 2025 and March 2026, sponsored or co-sponsored by 48 Republican lawmakers. A tightly coordinated core of four members of Congress drove the legislative effort.
- The Sharia-Free America Caucus, launched in December 2025, grew to 62 members by early April 2026.
- In total, 89 Republican elected officials participated in at least one track of the campaign: social media, legislation, or caucus membership.
- The posts satisfy all five criteria of the Dangerous Speech Project’s framework for speech likely to inspire violence.
The full report is available for download here.
For media inquiries or to request interviews with the report authors, please contact: [email protected]