Why Biden Said ‘Inshallah’ During the Debate
OCT 1, 2020 5:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
My latest at PJ Media:
One of the most revealing moments of last night’s debate was one that most people probably missed. Buzzfeed’s Hamed Aleaziz was overjoyed, tweeting that it was “a historic moment in America.” Over at Slate, Aymenn Ismail added that “as terrible as this debate night was, at least a few of us had this moment.” This glorious occasion came when Donald Trump stated that he would eventually release his tax returns: “I’ve paid millions of dollars, and you’ll get to see it.” Joe Biden responded: “When? Ishallah,” using the Arabic for “God willing,” a phrase that is often used in the context of procrastination.
Some Muslims were excited about Biden’s colloquial use of the phrase, so as to mean “This is not likely to happen.” “Interfaith and anti-racism educator” Hind Makki tweeted: “Whenever someone who’s not Muslim drops an inshallah in conversation, I assume they have Muslim colleagues. When they know to use it colloquially [sarcastically], I know they have close Muslim friends.”
These was just the sort of reactions Biden was doubtless hoping for. Arabic-speaking Christians as well as Muslims say “Inshallah,” but in saying this, Biden was not pandering to Arabic-speaking Christians; he was pandering to the part of his base (Muslim and non-Muslim) that believes that counterterror efforts are largely just an exercise in “Islamophobia” and supports the likes of Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Before the world, Biden was demonstrating his support for the Left’s favored religion, Islam. He wouldn’t have said the phrase in English, “God willing,” because his point was not primarily to emphasize that Trump was going to procrastinate in releasing his tax returns; it was to show in a concise, albeit indirect fashion that he was a worthy candidate of the anti-American hard Left, a reliable foe of the alleged “Muslim ban,” and a fervent proponent of mass migration.
For Biden has to earn the love of the increasingly dominant hard-Left wing of his party. Trump several times last night maneuvered Biden into repudiating pet causes of the far Left, notably the Green New Deal, for which Biden affirms support on his own website. This is likely to cause him some difficulty with the most radical of his supporters, for they have already made clear that they’ve got the Democratic nominee on a short leash.
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