Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has been under intense scrutiny for accepting political contributions and speaking fees from an assortment of unsavory special interests, ranging from Wall Street firms and drug companies to weapons industry giants.
Clinton, in turn, has stood by her donors with energetic and at times bizarre rationalizations.
But that hasn’t always been the case.
Back in 2000, during a heated US Senate race in New York, Clinton came under attack for accepting political contributions from Muslim groups whose members were targets of a smear campaign generated by one of the Islamophobia industry’s most discredited operatives.
Without hesitation, Clinton condemned her Muslim supporters, returned their donations and refused to meet with Arab and Muslim Americans for the remainder of her campaign, all in the spirit of “wooing Jewish voters,” as The New York Times put it.
The Clinton campaign did not respond to The Electronic Intifada when asked if Clinton stands by her treatment of Arab and Muslim supporters during the 2000 campaign.
Today, Muslim voters say their top issue is Islamophobia and strongly favor Clinton over her opponent, Bernie Sanders, by 52 to 22 percent, according to polling conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
As Clinton slams Republicans for their anti-Muslim rhetoric, it is worth remembering her past willingness to throw Muslim and Arab Americans under the bus for political gain.
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