Political aversion to mosques, in President Obama's case, exhibits a less conspicuous brand of Islamophobia. And under what circumstances did Obama—during the final quarter of his second term—finally enter a mosque and speak to its congregation? That his visit took place during his second term, and at the close of his administration, meant that the political stakes were far lower. The damage the visit could have done to his administration was minimal; he was setting his sights beyond his presidential post. He dodged American mosques and close association with Muslims until it was no longer politically expedient to do so, namely when he sought to advance his signature structural Islamophobic program: CVE policing.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 321