The far right's effort to brand the center as the "victory mosque" was successful because it built on the media hysteria whipped up in the previous months by the Obama administration. The frenzy around "homegrown terrorism" opened the door, and it was just a matter of time before the far right came waltzing (or perhaps goose-stepping) in. These forces, along with sectors of the Republican Party, were so successful in setting the terms of the debate that anywhere between 54 and 68 percent of Americans expressed opposition to the project at its proposed location.

XREF: Connects to broader patterns of manufactured outrage and how prior framing lowers the cost of subsequent attacks.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 521