Back in December, Pakistani-born Tashfeen Malik and her husband Syed Farook stormed a holiday party at a social services center in San Bernardino and killed 14 people with assault rifles. “Radical Islamic terrorism” had once again manifested itself on American soil.
In the wake of the shootings, Donald Trump - who at that point was still thought to be a long shot for the GOP presidential nomination - took his biggest political risk yet. He called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the country until lawmakers “can figure out what’s going on.”
And he didn’t stop there. He also suggested (or at least he didn’t completely rule out) the possibility that the US should step up monitoring of mosques and should also consider issuing ID cards to all Muslims. That drew comparisons to Nazi Germany’s treatment of the Jews. That’s not to say those comparisons were fair (they probably weren’t). But more than a few people made the connection.
In the nearly four months since then, Europe’s refugee crisis has worsened materially and a wave of sexual assaults allegedly perpetrated by Arab and North African migrants has emboldened the far-right, stoked nationalistic sentiment across the bloc, and propelled Germany’s AfD to ballot box success in state elections, much to the chagrin of a thorougly disgraced Angela Merkel.
In short, support for the far-right is growing from America, to France, to Germany and that has some observers concerned. Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels will almost certainly lend further credence to the ideas espoused by the likes of Trump, Frauke Petry, and Geert Wilders and that, in turn, will lead to still more worries about the rise of intense nationalism and the candidates who stand behind it.
Trump didn’t do anything to allay those fears on Tuesday morning when he once again called for a Muslim ban and suggested that if Belgium had just waterboarded Salah Abdeslam over the weekend, yesterday’s attacks would have never happened (incidentally, that contention may well be accurate).
But surprisingly, it was Ted Cruz who made the most controversial comments in the wake of the attacks on Brussels. Here’s what the Texas senator said:
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”
When asked what neighborhoods he meant, Cruz dug himself a rather large hole. “I'm talking about any area where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism,” he said. CNN asked Cruz if he could give any examples of neighborhoods in America where radical Islamic terrorism is a problem. He dodged the question.
He also couldn’t say exactly how many followers of Islam need to be in an area before it’s classified as a “Muslim neighborhood.”
"We know what is happening with these isolated Muslim neighborhoods in Europe,” his campaign would later say, in an e-mail. “If we want to prevent it from happening here, it is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes.”
Right, Ted.
In short, Cruz discovered what happens when someone who isn't Trump tries to go full-Trump. Whereas Trump's bombastic rhetoric emboldens raucous crowds of screaming fans and drives his poll numbers through the ceiling, Cruz was simply dismissed with a string of terse responses from political opponents and advocacy groups.
"[He's] a religious zealot," The Council on American-Islamic Relations said.
"Ted Cruz is a disgrace," the DNC said, flatly.
Later, CNN asked Donald Trump if he supported Cruz's proposed Muslim patrols. “I would support that 100 percent,” the frontrunner said. “Yes, I would. I think that’s a good idea," he added, noting that police are completely capable of cracking down if given the authority.
"We have to be a lot tougher,” Trump concluded. “Right now they’re looking at us as weak, soft, stupid people.” Which is ironic, because that's exactly how Trump looks at Cruz.
For Cruz, we suppose the lesson is to just be yourself and leave being Trump to Trump. Because when Trump calls for a police lockdown of all Muslim neighborhoods, it's called "making America safe again." When Ted Cruz calls for police lockdown of all Muslim neighborhoods it's called "creepy."