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Today, Explained newsletter

25 years after 9/11, the GOP has never been more anti-Muslim

The GOP wants America to fear Muslims.

This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here.

Hi readers — today marks 25 years since 9/11. In New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania, survivors, families, and politicians are gathering to grieve and commemorate the attacks.

Today, we wanted to focus on one small part of the story in New York City, where former Mayor Rudy Giuliani singled out Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, with an Islamophobic screed about Mamdani’s participation in memorial ceremonies.

Giuliani’s rant, to be clear, is not really news in its own right; 25 years on, he’s less “America’s mayor” than he is the twice-disbarred, disgraced former lawyer of President Donald Trump. (And Mamdani did attend the event, even shaking hands with Giuliani.)

But Giuliani’s remarks are, unfortunately, emblematic of a disturbing trend in Republican politics, where open, aggressive Islamophobia is on the rise — 25 years after a particularly ugly brand of it emerged in response to 9/11. One major difference between then and now? In 2001, many politicians tried to tamp........

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