Majority say Muslims, Jews face more discrimination than other religious groups

A majority of registered voters in a new a new Hill-HarrisX poll say Muslims and Jews face more discrimination than other religious groups in the U.S.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said Muslims face discrimination, while 15 percent said they face almost no discrimination or no discrimination at all in the U.S. Seventy-nine percent also said Jews face discrimination, with 21 percent disagreeing.

Fewer respondents — 61 percent — said Christians are discriminated against, with 39 percent saying they face little to no discrimination.

Atheists are perceived to face even less discrimination, with 55 percent of those surveyed saying atheists face discrimination in the U.S., compared with 45 percent who said there is no discrimination against atheists.

The poll results come amid this week’s debate in the House over allegations of anti-Semitic language by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). The chamber later passed a resolution Thursday that condemns hatred and bigotry, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

The measure was drafted after Omar sparked controversy with remarks about Israel that were condemned by members of her own party.

“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” she said during a forum last week.

Critics slammed the remark as anti-Semitic, but Omar’s defenders said she is being subjected to a double standard.

“I do think that the backlash that she’s gotten for her statements, which should have been called out, I would say, has been disproportionate compared to other similarly situated people. Other congressmen have trafficked in the same tropes,” Sophia Tesfaye, deputy politics editor at Salon.com, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.” 

The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online March 1-2 among 1,003 registered voters. The sampling margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

— Julia Manchester