Speaking on CNN last night, UC-Riverside Professor Reza Aslan, the Muslim author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, claimed that it’s natural that Republican candidates would endorse “xenophobia” and “Muslim-bashing” because such sentiments are rewarded by the party’s voters.

Host Anderson Cooper asked Aslan:

As a religious scholar, as a Muslim, as an American, what is your reaction when you hear Dr. Carson saying that he wouldn’t support the idea of a Muslim President?

Aslan replied:

I’m not that surprised. In fact, the only thing I’m surprised about is that the Muslim-bashing has taken this long to come out in the GOP field… And frankly the comments of Trump and particularly Dr. Carson, I think, are going to be rewarded in the GOP field.

Aslan continued:

The Carson campaign has already boasted that 24 hours after making that comment they’ve got 100,000 new Facebook followers. I think that their numbers are going to go up and I think that as a result you’re going to see the other candidates sort of playing this game as well. Xenophobia, anti-Muslim bashing, in the modern GOP today, sadly, that’s how you get votes.

Amanda Carpenter, former communications director for Ted Cruz who also appeared on the show, took issue with Aslan’s characterization of Republican candidates and voters:

I couldn’t disagree with that assessment more. I mean look at the news of Scott Walker dropping out of the race today. His dropping out of the race is a dramatic rejection of the direction that Donald Trump and Ben Carson have taken this party, particularly with the Muslim comments and just, larger, no control over their message. I mean Scott Walker, if you look at his press conference, he’s essentially saying I’m dropping out so we can unify the anti-Trump vote.

Anderson Cooper didn't mention that media darling Reza Aslan is perhaps the foremost academic apologist for radical Islam, from Hamas to the Iranian mullahs.