The race-motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY seems to be the tipping point in the migration of the Great Replacement Theory from white supremacists rabbit holes to the mainstream right extremists of the Republican Party.
The Buffalo shooter’s ties to the acceptance of and the promotion of the Great Replacement Theory defines him as an extremist conservative, which is uncomfortable for the conservatives who understand, but are reluctant to admit, that there are extremists that identify with being conservative and Republican.
On my talk show on WWL Radio - New Orleans, I have consistently referenced the “extreme right-wing activists” of the Republican Party. Monday, a caller challenged the idea that there are “extreme right-wing activists” who identify with the conservative movement.
The caller’s assumption was that the “extreme right-wing activists” and NOT Republican or conservative and there is no need for the Republican Party to denounce the extremists. I disagree. The caller challenged me to demonstrate that there are “extreme right-wing activists” in the Republican Party - a challenge I openly accepted.
As I have said on my talk show more times than I can count - “All conservatives and all Republicans are NOT right-wing extremists - but there are conservatives and Republicans who are right-wing extremists.”
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene - GA, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar - AZ, former Republican Congressman Steve King - IA, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among the right-wing extremists serving in the Republican Party.
Tucker Carlson has the top-rated cable news show and one of the highest-rated shows on cable news, but his high ratings were achieved through debates based on facts. In 2020, Fox News attorneys stated in court that “spirited debate on talk-show programs does not lend itself well to statements of actual fact.”
Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC all present biased discussions about social and political topics, but Tucker Carlson has become a standout among Fox hosts for his promotion of white victimization and extreme ideology that proves to be nothing more than satisfying the political palate of those who identify more with the extremists of the conservative movement.
Calling someone a RINO (Republican In Name Only) is a 4-letter slur of Republicans that are not members of the extreme right. The fact that there is a distinction between Republican extremists and more moderate Republicans proves that the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party exists.
Tucker Carlson - a conservative - promotes the Great Replacement Theory - which is a conspiracy theory that may seem new, but its roots can be traced back to Reconstruction in America.
The Great Replacement Theory is a conspiracy theory that, at its base, states there is a plot to reduce the influence of white people through immigration. White people are being born at a lower rate than other races and groups; therefore, Democrats and elites (code word for Jewish people) are plotting to replace white Americans as the ruling class.
Carlson uses the phrase “legacy Americans” as a dog-whistle code to identify white Americans. The definition of legacy is something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. In the world of college fraternities, a legacy is an individual who may be given special consideration because his father was in the same fraternity.
“Legacy Americans” refers to the white Americans who make up the traditional ruling class in America. There has been a concerted effort by some of the right to instill fear in white people that they are now the victims of discrimination and on the verge of losing power granted to them just for being white.
Tucker Carlson promotes the conspiracy theory that Democrats and the elite are actively plotting “to replace legacy Americans with more obedient people from far away countries” in an effort “to change the racial mix of the country, to reduce the political power of people whose ancestors lived here and dramatically increase the proportion of Americans newly arrived from the Third World.”
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is blaming radical Democrats for planning a permanent election insurrection through undocumented individuals coming into America and increasing the number of liberal voters.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is a loud proponent of using the fear of loss to turn Republican voters into victims. It is interesting that some Republicans are playing the victim card when they were the party that criticized liberals for always claiming to be victims. Former President Donald Trump used the idea of victimization as the foundation of his campaign and his term in office. Power is derived from victimization.
In her blatant criticism of Jewish Americans, Marjorie Taylor Greene theorized that the wildfires in California were started by Jewish lasers orbiting the Earth.
Tucker Carlson presented the solution to his belief that tanning testicles of American men is a way of offsetting their collective loss of masculinity.
Absurdities result from those who disregard facts and logic in the promotion of their malicious political agenda, and the absurdities are either accepted as facts or passed over as if they were never mentioned.
If there is any doubt that there is an active stream of extremism within the Republican Party - look no further than today’s election in Idaho.
Republican Ammon Bundy is a right-wing extremist running for governor. Republican Jennifer Ellis is a moderate Republican who was disgusted by Bundy’s use of the GOP to promote his extreme agenda. Ellis said, “They love the politics of fear” and that she was fed up with all the “conspiracy stuff” so she decided to run against a Republican extremist. Republicans have over 100 far-right extreme candidates running in elections this year who support white supremacists, anti-government extremists, and even the Proud Boys.
Tucker Carlson showed his hand again when President Biden nominated Ketanji Jackson Brown to the Supreme Court. Brown became the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. After her nomination, Carlson used his Fox News show to demand to see Brown’s test scores as he implied that she was not qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice. Carlson said that Brown was “simply ignorant of the law” and her nomination is Biden’s way to “humiliate and degrade” America - turning America into “Rwanda.” Yet, Carlson never questioned or demanded to see the test scores of the 3 justices President Trump nominated - all of which were white.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, “white supremacy, neo-Nazi, hate speech, and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican Party.”
Another conservative Republican to denounce Marjorie Taylor Greene was Republican Senator Rick Scott - FL - who defined racial politics as “completely disgusting” and condemned Greene for speaking to a group with ties to white supremacy.
The meeting Greene spoke to was organized by conservative Nick Fuentes - a white nationalist who founded the American First Political Action Conference and described the attack on the Capitol on January 6 as “awesome.”
In spite of attempts to deny their existence, it is obvious that there is a growing movement within the Republican Party to win votes by making white Americans fear the equality of blacks, Hispanics, or any other group.
Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Ben Sasse, have been denounced for not being Republican enough, but they represent more of the conservatives in the Republican Party.
If you are conservative or Republican and you are not part of the right-wing extremists - then don’t take it personally when someone points out that there is a frightening extreme movement attempting to take over the Republican Party and redefine America’s quest for equality.
Where is the voice of the Republicans who believe in true conservative ideology? Why do they remain mostly silent? And when they do speak out - why do they allow the right-wing extremists to degrade their adherence to conservative ideology?
The Democrats have a problem of being defined by the left-wing extremists, including antifa; and President Biden and the Democrat Party should do more to distance themselves from the extremists within their party with the same sense of urgency that Republicans should denounce the right-wing extremists.
My talk show on WWL - New Orleans - represents the moderate Republicans and Democrats that determine the outcome of presidential elections. As a registered Independent with ties to neither political tribe - I describe myself as a radical moderate with strong opinions that are void of convenient political party affiliation.
Where do you stand? And why are you not more vocal?