:sigh: No, it wouldn’t have provoked the same reaction.
The whole point of the mocking comments was that they were the bait. He was relying on his opponents being stupid enough to seize upon them, thinking it could be a way to stop him. Instead, they’ve put themselves at odds with the membership and public, turned Boris into the de facto champion of the grassroots and made themselves look like PC, multi-culti, Islam-loving opportunists into the bargain. And all just before Conference.
The best thing about Boris’s plan is that it relied on Number 10’s endless capacity to do the wrong thing in any given situation- which it duly has.
Oh, and the Corbyn comparison is nonsense. Corbyn has a track record of anti-semitism as long as your arm, so of course such comments would be seen as antisemitic. No such history or context exists with Boris and muslims.