MSNBC guest host Veronica De La Cruz on August 11 lamented the supposed focus amongst GOP primary voters on religion, complaining, "...What happened to jobs? What happened to that discussion?" She also suggested that Texas Governor Rick Perry could be a "phony."
Talking to contributor Melissa Harris-Perry, De La Cruz wondered, "Why is religion featuring so prominently right now?" Harris-Perry, a liberal writer for the Nation, then attempted to link evangelical support for George W. Bush to anti-Islamic sentiment.
After insisting that Bush's evangelical "language" ushered in a new preoccupation with religion, the Nation journalist compared, "And then after 9/11, religion also became important because there was this kind of anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim anxiety that could be pretty easily tapped in order to get votes."