Republicans double down on debunked theory that white Americans are being replaced

Republican members of Congress are doubling down on their support for the racist conspiracy theory that nonwhite immigrants are being brought into the United States systematically to take the place of white people, a claim often referred to as “the great replacement theory.”

In a video posted to her Facebook page on Monday, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) promoted the theory during a hearing of the House Budget Committee as it debated the 2022 budget bill.

“Yes, there is definitely a replacement theory that’s going on right now,” said Boebert. “We are killing American jobs and bringing in illegal aliens from all over the world to replace them if Americans will not comply with the tyrannical orders that are coming down from the White House.”

Boebert’s comments come after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted on Sept. 25, “@TuckerCarlson is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America. The ADL is a racist organization.”

Perhaps the most prominent promoter of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, Fox News host Carlson, has recently drawn fire from civil rights groups again.

Gaetz was responding to Carlson’s latest repetition of the bigoted claim. On Sept. 22, he told his audience:

An unrelenting stream of immigration. But why? Well, Joe Biden just said it, to change the racial mix of the country. That’s the reason, to reduce the political power of people whose ancestors lived here, and dramatically increase the proportion of Americans newly arrived from the third world. And then Biden went further, he said that nonwhite DNA is the, quote, “the source of our strength.” Imagine saying that. This is the language of eugenics, it’s horrifying. But there’s a reason Biden said it.

 

In political terms, this policy is called “the great replacement,” the replacement of legacy Americans with more obedient people from far-away countries. They brag about it all the time, but if you dare to say it’s happening they will scream at you with maximum hysteria.

The following day, the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told the Daily Beast in a statement, “For Tucker Carlson, host of one of the most-watched news programs in the country, to use his platform as a megaphone to spread the toxic, antisemitic, and xenophobic ‘great replacement theory’ is a repugnant and dangerous abuse of his platform.”

He went on, “If it somehow wasn’t clear enough before to the executives at Fox News that Carlson was openly embracing white nationalist talking points, let last night’s episode be case and point. We reiterate our call to Fox News and Lachlan Murdoch: Tucker Carlson must go.”

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said in a statement on Sept. 23:

By openly embracing the white supremacist ‘great replacement’ theory, which numerous mass murderers have cited in their manifestos, Tucker Carlson once again proved that his program poses a grave danger to our society. Fox News should fire Mr. Carlson and any other host who promotes these racist, dangerous conspiracy theories.

 

And for the record, this country does not belong to any racial group, nor does greater diversity harm any racial group. When America welcomes immigrants and embraces diversity, that’s a good thing for everyone.

Experts have debunked the racist theory.

However, that hasn’t stopped Republican lawmakers from joining Carlson in more openly pushing it.

In April, Boebert alleged in a campaign video that Democrats had previously used immigrant votes to “take over the entire state of California,” and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked whether Democrats “want to remake the demographics of America, to ensure … that they stay in power forever?”

Earlier in September, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the third-ranking Republican in the House, falsely claimed in Facebook ads that Democrats were “attempting to flood our voter roles [sic] with 11 MILLION NEW VOTERS by giving illegal immigrants amnesty.”

Replacement theory has been behind violence carried out by white nationalists both in the United States and in other countries.

Neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 chanting, “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”

A man who shot and killed 51 at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 wrote a manifesto he called “The Great Replacement”; a man who killed 22 people in a shooting in El Paso, Texas, that same year said he was reacting to a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

Despite the body count, the overt racism, and the widespread condemnation, Republicans are more and more openly embracing the extreme conspiracy theory.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.