--- title: Barack Obama Mosque Visit Inspires #TooLateObama Criticism description: Some Muslims accused President Barack Obama of hypocrisy and "anti-Muslim policies" on Wednesday, using the Twitter hashtag #TooLateObama canonical: https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-03T22:03:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:44:17.902Z article:section: Politics og:title: Muslims Dismiss Obama's Mosque Visit as #TooLateObama og:description: Some Muslims used #TooLateObama to respond to the President's remarks on Islam og:url: https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta737aa69afcd9d4e/69887c0ef887dc0e9de94731/obama-mosque2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Catonsville, Maryland on Feb. 3, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Muslims Dismiss Obama's Mosque Visit as #TooLateObama twitter:description: Some Muslims used #TooLateObama to respond to the President's remarks on Islam twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta737aa69afcd9d4e/69887c0ef887dc0e9de94731/obama-mosque2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Muslims Dismiss Obama's Mosque Visit as #TooLateObama > 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 [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 3, 2016 10:03 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Catonsville, Maryland on Feb. 3, 2016. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Catonsville, Maryland on Feb. 3, 2016. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 3, 2016 10:03 PM UTC President Obama [mounted a defense Wednesday of American Muslims](http://time.com/4206634/obama-mosque-muslims-american-family/) who have found themselves under scrutiny amid the rise of [ISIS](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi/), using [his first visit to a mosque while in office](http://time.com/4205979/obama-mosque-visit-history/) to proclaim that “we are are one America family.” But many Muslims weren’t impressed, accusing Obama of hypocrisy and “anti-Muslim policies,” using the Twitter hashtag #TooLateObama. Obama’s speech in Maryland condemned anti-Muslim rhetoric, following proposals by Republican presidential candidate [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-donald-trump/) to ban Muslims from entering the country. “We have to reject a politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias and targets people because of religion,” Obama said. “None of us can be silent. We can’t be bystanders to bigotry.” For many Muslims on social media, it was too little, too late. People using the #TooLateObama hashtag criticized Obama’s foreign policy, especially the [escalation of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/drone-strikes-reveal-uncomfortable-truth-us-is-often-unsure-about-who-will-die.html). The New York _Times_ and other news outlets have reported on the [civilian casualties](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/drone-strikes-reveal-uncomfortable-truth-us-is-often-unsure-about-who-will-die.html) of such drone strikes, describing the act of identifying drone targets as an “imperfect best guess.” Twitter users also faulted Obama for failing to keep his campaign promise to [close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.](http://time.com/4179278/state-of-the-union-guantanamo-bay-president-obama/) Obama thanked Muslims for their contributions to American society during his speech. “Telling ‘thank you’ to Muslim-Americans isn’t just enough. We still are targets of state violence,” one [wrote on Twitter](https://twitter.com/sarah%5Fharvard/status/694959981968359424). > [](https://twitter.com/OpiniontdBlkGuy/status/694962112276348928) > [](https://twitter.com/Delo%5FTaylor/status/694976332149600256) > [](https://twitter.com/levantina%5F/status/694980692212629504) > [](https://twitter.com/AfrixaAF/status/694968669428842496) > [](https://twitter.com/TheMinastic/status/694966913575882752) > [](https://twitter.com/AuburnSandstrom/status/694963619986038784) > [](https://twitter.com/sarah%5Fharvard/status/694959981968359424) > [](https://twitter.com/DarakshanRaja/status/694954104875974656) > [](https://twitter.com/sarah%5Fharvard/status/694938319105495040) Not everyone was critical. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) [praised the visit](https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/photos/a.92140837694.89999.42590232694/10153509060827695/?type=3&theater) as a sign of progress “The President’s first visit to an American mosque is a significant step in the right direction and will hopefully encourage our nation’s political and religious leaders to join him in pushing back against rising Islamophobia,” Zainab Chaudry, outreach manager for CAIR Maryland, said in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/"},"headline":"Muslims Dismiss Obama's Mosque Visit as #TooLateObama","datePublished":"2016-02-03T22:03:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:44:17.902Z","description":"Complaints that it was too little, too late","url":"https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta737aa69afcd9d4e/69887c0ef887dc0e9de94731/obama-mosque2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta737aa69afcd9d4e/69887c0ef887dc0e9de94731/obama-mosque2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Catonsville, Maryland on Feb. 3, 2016.","caption":"President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Catonsville, Maryland on Feb. 3, 2016.","creditText":"Jonathan Ernst—Reuters","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/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4206762/barack-obama-mosque-visit-toolateobama/","name":"Muslims Dismiss Obama's Mosque Visit as #TooLateObama"}}]}] ```