--- title: Americans Split Over How Next President Discusses Islam description: A survey by Pew found that some Americans think the president should discuss Islamic extremism bluntly and others want pragmatism. canonical: https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-03T20:21:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:44:01.623Z article:section: Politics og:title: Americans Split Over How Next President Discusses Islam og:description: It's a question of how blunt the president should be og:url: https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt156466ae447604d8/69887bfbcd1bba3cc26ff401/obama-mosque1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5976 og:image:height: 3362 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-RELIGIOIN-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans Split Over How Next President Discusses Islam twitter:description: It's a question of how blunt the president should be twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt156466ae447604d8/69887bfbcd1bba3cc26ff401/obama-mosque1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Americans Split Over How Next President Should Talk About Islam > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 3, 2016 8:21 PM UTC  President Obama speaks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore Feb. 3, 2016 in Windsor Mill, Maryland. President Obama speaks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore Feb. 3, 2016 in Windsor Mill, Maryland. Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 3, 2016 8:21 PM UTC Americans are split over whether their next president should speak bluntly about [Islamic extremism](http://time.com/4206634/obama-mosque-muslims-american-family/) or be careful not to criticize the religion as a whole, according to a [new survey of Democrats and Republicans](http://www.pewforum.org/2016/02/03/republicans-prefer-blunt-talk-about-islamic-extremism-democrats-favor-caution/). The survey, conducted by Pew Research Center, found that half of Americans believe the president should choose words on [Islam](http://time.com/4206634/obama-mosque-muslims-american-family/) carefully, while 4 in 10 think speaking bluntly is the best approach. When broken down by party, 65% of [Republicans](http://time.com/4192284/president-obama-republicans-2016/) and those who lean Republican prefer blunt talk, while 70% of [Democrats ](http://time.com/4156925/hillary-clinton-is-strong-on-fighting-isis-but-democrats-dont-seem-to-care-2/)and those who lean Democratic think the next president should tread carefully. Among Republicans who preferred speaking bluntly on Islamic extremism, a majority think that Donald Trump, 63%, or Ted Cruz, 61%, would make a good or great president. The study also found that almost half of Americans believe a segment of the U.S. Muslim population is anti-American. These surveys on Americans’ thoughts on Islamic extremism come in the wake of attacks late last year in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif. As the 2016 presidential primaries are getting underway, the question of how to fight extremism has figured prominently in debates and some candidates’ platforms. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/"},"headline":"Americans Split Over How Next President Should Talk About Islam","datePublished":"2016-02-03T20:21:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:44:01.623Z","description":"It's a question of how blunt the president should be","url":"https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/","keywords":["faith","Religion","Poll","Islam"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt156466ae447604d8/69887bfbcd1bba3cc26ff401/obama-mosque1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt156466ae447604d8/69887bfbcd1bba3cc26ff401/obama-mosque1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-RELIGIOIN-OBAMA","caption":"US-POLITICS-RELIGIOIN-OBAMA","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4206585/americans-split-over-next-president-discussing-islam/","name":"Americans Split Over How Next President Should Talk About Islam"}}]}] ```