Appearing as a guest on MSNBC Live with Kate Snow, NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd tried to explain away a poll showing that most Americans have a negative view of Islam by chalking it up largely to a "lack of familiarity" with the religion, and declared that "unfamiliarity breeds the fear."
Todd's theorizing came after MSNBC's Steve Kornacki had just brought up the finding that 56 percent of Americans believe Islam is "at odds" with "American values," observing that it helps explain Donald Trump's support.
Todd went to work portraying those who are skeptical of Islam as lacking knowledge:
What you don't know, you fear. And the fact of the matter is, a lot of Americans don't know a lot about Islam.
After host Kate Snow injected, "Right," Todd continued:
They just don't know a lot about it. There isn't this, the two people you could say, let's, these are the two people you expect to speak for the religion of Islam in America.
After Snow introduced the word "unfamiliarity," and recalled that she did not know any Muslims when she was growing up in upstate New York, Todd added:
And if you think about it here, the only people that are truly, the most famous people speaking out in defense of Islam are American politicians who are not Islam, who are not Muslim, right now, right? It is mostly, it's been, you know, whether the President or you have Speaker Ryan, plenty of people that have been saying, "Don't," you know, "Don't do this."
Todd concluded:
And I think that that -- that also presents the challenge here where, again, the unfamiliarity breeds the fear because they just hear it's radical Islamism, "Oh, my God," and I think that the lack of familiarity with the religion adds to this.
It may be of some interest to Mr. Todd that, just a couple of years ago, the Pew Research Center released an extensive survey testing the views of Muslims in different regions of the world, and found substantial amounts of support in places like the Middle East and Asia for applying the death penalty for transgressions like adultery or conversion from Islam to some other religion.
So it would seem unlikely that learning more would give an appearance of similarity between American attitudes and those in predominantly Muslim countries.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, December 8, MSNBC LIve with Kate Snow from 3:07 p.m.:
STEVE KORNACKI: I think we have to say, a lot of times we look at Trump and we say this is a phenomenon of the Republican base. I think specifically on this question of Islam, on this question of Muslims, it is broader than that because there was a poll taken just last month that asked the question: Is Islam itself compatible with American values and the American way of life? Fifty-six percent of all Americans, all parties, said that it isn't. And that includes 43 percent of Democrats.
And I think that that's one of the things you're seeing with Donald Trump here you find his numbers tend to be a little bit all over the place, depending on what poll you look at. One of the variables there is, what kinds of voters are you including in these polls? When they open it up to sort of non-traditional Republicans, Trump does better. And I think that's one of the aspects of his coalition we don't necessarily appreciate. It's not just the hard core Republican base. He is appealing to a broader swath than that.
CHUCK TODD: And don't forget, Kate, you know, we as Americans, and it's a human nature thing: What you don't know, you fear. And the fact of the matter is, a lot of Americans don't know a lot about Islam.
KATE SNOW: Right.
TODD: Okay? They just don't know a lot about it. There isn't this, the two people you could say, let's, these are the two people you expect to speak for the religion of Islam in America. Right? That doesn't, those, that-
SNOW: There's an unfamiliarity. I grew up in upstate New York-
TODD: Right
SNOW: -and I didn't know a single Muslim-American growing up.
TODD: And if you think about it here, the only people that are truly, the most famous people speaking out in defense of Islam are American politicians who are not Islam, who are not Muslim, right now, right? It is mostly, it's been, you know, whether the President or you have Speaker Ryan, plenty of people that have been saying, "Don't," you know, "Don't do this."
And I think that that -- that also presents the challenge here where, again, the unfamiliarity breeds the fear because they just hear it's radical Islamism, "Oh, my God," and I think that the lack of familiarity with the religion adds to this.
