Donald Trump’s bigotry has inspired U.S. Muslim voters like no candidate before

Caption: Sarah Cochran, Virginia state director for Emerge USA, talks to Remaz Abdelgader, a George Mason University student and Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer, about how they can get more Muslims to vote in next week's Virginia primary (photo credit: Petula Dvorak/Washington Post)

Through the driving rain, past the flood watch, the stalled cars and the tornado warnings, they pushed onward Wednesday night to get to the mosque in Northern Virginia. They had a Super Tuesday mission, and time was running out.

“Abstaining from voting is also a vote,” read one of the talking points in their action plan.

“If Muslims do not vote, openly Islamophobic leaders do not pay a price,” said another one.

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This round of Islamophobia has been fueled by Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric calling for a “total” ban on Muslims entering the United States — hate speech that has helped make him the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. But it has also been bolstered by leaders who have remained silent.

“This rise of Islamophobia? It has inspired our activism,” said Remaz Abdelgader, 22, a George Mason University student and Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer.

Abdelgader, who lives in Alexandria, said she got weird looks here and there for her hijab, but never experienced outright discrimination.

But she was in a crosswalk recently, and a man took a sharp turn toward her in his car, nearly running her over, she said. He rolled down his window and told her to go back to where she came from, and that next time he’ll get her.

“And I was like, ‘Oh. It’s real. And it’s on,’ ” she said. And she threw herself into political activism, campaigning and doing voter-registration drives.

This excerpt is taken from a longer article, which can be found on washingtonpost.com.