Republican Winking at White Supremacists has Created a Dangerous Culture of Violence
WASHINGTON – Truth Wins Out (TWO) called on the Republican Party to stop flirting with fascists and winking at white supremacists. The GOP’s top leadership and conservative media have caused grave harm to our nation by promoting the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, that claims Jews and liberals are deliberately replacing white Americans with immigrants so Democrats can win elections. This baseless GOP-promoted theory helped lead to the racially inspired massacre at a Buffalo supermarket over the weekend.
“What is most despicable is that the lies of white supremacists are glorified and amplified by top
“What is most despicable is that the lies of white supremacists are glorified and amplified by top Republican leaders and media personalities, who then deny responsibility when their rhetoric leads to bloodshed,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “This gutter-level appeal for votes by adopting neo-Nazi talking points is an affront to our morality and an assault on our nation.”
The New York Times reports that over the past decade, the Anti-Defamation League has counted about 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists. Of these 450 killings, right-wing extremists committed about 75 percent, while left-wing extremists were responsible for 4 percent. Nearly half of the murders were specifically tied to white supremacists.
Mirroring the ideas that inspired the killer in Buffalo, Elise Stefanik (R-NY), chair of the House Republican Conference, released a series of Facebook ads in September 2021 that ludicrously claimed Democrats were importing immigrants as a ruse to swell Democratic voter rolls and replace Republicans.
“Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION”, screamed one of the ads. “Their plan to grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.”
Such fearmongering is also a staple of FOX News, with host Tucker Carlson regularly pushing the “Great Replacement”. The result is that an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from December found that 1 in 3 U.S. adults believed there was “an effort to replace U.S. citizens with immigrants for electoral gains.”
“The mainstream Republican Party decided that their path to power was kowtowing to crackpots and cranks,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “They coopted conspiracy theorists, regaled religious nuts, played footsie with fascists, glorified gun-toting goons and winked at white supremacists. To amplify these ignoble efforts, conservative media networks were created to serve as permanent outrage machines. This is a dire threat to our nation, is putting lives in danger and must immediately stop.”
Truth Wins Out urges the Democratic Party to speak out against GOP extremism as boldly and clearly as Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
“House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism,” Ms. Cheney, the former No. 3 House Republican who was removed from that role over her criticism of Mr. Trump, wrote on Twitter. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”
The New York Times reports:
Last year, far-right Republican members of Congress circulated plans to create an “America First Caucus,” where the section on immigration talked about the importance of “uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” The idea was scrapped but those involved continued to make waves for their flirtation with white nationalism.
In February, when Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona participated in a conference organized by Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist, Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, called their actions “appalling and wrong,” but he did not formally rebuke or punish them.
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