GOP candidates escalate anti-Islam rhetoric ahead of 2026 midterms

Republican lawmakers and candidates across the country are intensifying anti-Islam messaging as part of their strategy to energize voters heading into the 2026 midterm elections, according to reporting from the Nebraska Examiner. The campaign centers on claims, without evidence, that Muslim culture and religious tenets threaten American political values.

Up and down the ballot, Republicans have spent approximately $12 million since last year on ads that negatively mention Islam, Muslims or Shariah law, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. The strategy represents a shift from immigration enforcement and abortion issues, which have lost electoral power for conservatives in recent polling.

Examples of the escalating rhetoric include former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell, now running for state attorney general, releasing a campaign ad inviting supporters of "radical Islam" to leave the country. In Georgia, Republican state Senator Greg Dolezal released an AI-generated campaign ad depicting Muslim people invading a suburban neighborhood, describing Muslims as "invaders who would rather pillage our generosity than assimilate."

Officials in Alabama and Oklahoma have blocked Muslim community expansion projects after they attracted the attention of conservative politicians, while federal lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at preventing foreign or religious legal codes from being enforced in U.S. courts.

Mustafa Akyol, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, compared the furor to McCarthyism of the 1950s. "I worry this will harm freedom, which is the very value some of these politicians are claiming to protect," Akyol said, noting that Muslims comprise only 1 percent of the U.S. population and could not enforce Shariah law even if they attempted to.

A recent report found that 46 Republican elected officials published 1,111 social media posts targeting Muslim Americans between February 2025 and March 2026, with monthly volume increasing by 1,450 percent over the study period. Five members of Congress produced 73 percent of all posts.

Muslim leaders say the rhetoric misrepresents their community's values and endangers their families. Critics also note that the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause already prohibits favoring one religion over another, making additional legislation unnecessary. Even supporters of anti-Shariah measures have struggled to explain how such laws would replace the American legal system.