Tag: GOP white supremacy

‘Idiot’ GOP lawmaker ignites fury after wearing Star of David to protest COVID-19 vaccine rules and declaring ‘we’re all Jews’

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Taking a page out of Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s anti-Semitic playbook, a GOP state lawmaker in Washington who is opposed to COVID-19 vaccine requirements donned a yellow Star of David during a speech to a right-wing group over the weekend.

Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) later told the Seattle Times he had been given the Star of David — a symbol that Nazis forced Jews to wear to identify them for extermination— by someone at the “Patriot Gathering,” organized by Washingtonians for Change. Walsh said most attendees were wearing the yellow stars because the group is “deeply concerned about vaccine passports and vaccine segregation.”

In a Facebook post sharing video of his speech, Walsh wrote: “It’s an echo from history. In the current context, we’re all Jews.” Continue reading.

Louisiana GOP lawmaker wants schools to teach the ‘good’ of slavery

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GOP state Rep. Ray Garofalo Jr. introduced a bill to ban teaching ‘divisive concepts’ in schools.

A Louisiana Republican state representative said Tuesday that he wants to ban schools from teaching “divisive concepts” such as systemic racism and sexism, and instead wants to teach students about the “good” of slavery.

State Rep. Ray Garofalo Jr. made the comments during a debate over his bill, H.B. 564, which bans schools from teaching students, “That either the United States of America or the state of Louisiana is fundamentally, institutionally, or systemically racist or sexist.”

“If you are having a discussion on whatever the case may be, on slavery, then you can talk about everything dealing with slavery: the good, the bad, the ugly,” Garofalo Jr. said, according to video posted by the Louisiana Democratic Party. Continue reading.

Republicans race for distance from ‘America First Caucus’

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Republicans from various factions in the GOP are racing to distance themselves — and the party at large — from a band of hard-line House conservatives whose flirtation with forming a caucus espousing white nationalist views has ignited a firestorm of controversy on Capitol Hill.

GOP leaders, anti-Trump centrists and vulnerable Republicans in battleground districts wasted little time in recent days denouncing the “America First Caucus,” whose stated purpose in a platform document included the defense of America as a nation “strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.”

While the Republicans reportedly behind the group — including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) — appear to have abandoned the project in the face of bipartisan criticism, their very interest has created an enormous headache for Republican leaders seeking to steer the party away from an image of racial insensitivity and appeal to a broader swath of voters, including women and minorities, in the post-Trump era. Continue reading.

Rep. Greene tries to distance herself from ‘America First Caucus’ document denounced as racist

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Saturday tried to distance herself from a document published by Punchbowl News that purportedly outlined the goals of a new “America First Caucus” being formed by Greene and other hard-right GOP lawmakers. The document had received blowback from Democrats and some Republicans for promoting nativist policies and perpetuating the falsehood that there was widespread fraud and corruption in the 2020 election.

On Saturday, Greene (R-Ga.) described the document as “a staff level draft proposal from an outside group” and claimed she had not read it. She blasted the media for “taking something out of context,” but did not specify to which policies in the document she objected.

However, Greene did not deny plans to start an “America First Caucus” and ended a lengthy Twitter thread by saying she supported former president Donald Trump’s “America First agenda.” Continue reading.

‘White Supremacy Caucus’: GOP lawmaker torches ‘America First Caucus’ as he offers his take on lawmakers joining it

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) did not mince words when he shared his opinion of the right-wing America First Caucus. The Republican lawmaker also criticized his colleagues interested in joining the caucus as he stressed that there should be consequences for such actions. 

On Friday, April 16, Kinzinger took to Twitter with a series of tweets about the formation of the new caucus. According to Mediaite, the caucus was founded by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), both of whom recently attended a white nationalist conference and served as keynote speakers. The publication reports that the two lawmakers have been working to recruit a number of other Republican lawmakers including Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).

Although the America First Caucus claims it places an emphasis on “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions,” Kinzinger argues otherwise. The Illinois lawmaker insists the caucus is nothing more than a white supremacy caucus. Continue reading.

Taylor Greene defends ‘America First’ effort, pushes back on critics

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) defended her efforts to form a pro-Trump caucus in the House of Representatives, saying she would push forward with forming the group but distancing herself from nativist language the group has espoused. 

Greene said in a statement that she had not read a staff-written draft from the “America First Caucus” that calls for a “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.”

“On Friday, sick and evil POS in the media attacked me with phrases I never said or wrote. They released a staff level draft proposal from an outside group that I hadn’t read. The scum and liars in the media are calling me a racist by taking something out of context,” Greene tweeted.  Continue reading.

The GOP’s gradual descent into ‘replacement theory’ and ‘nativist dog whistles’

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If there’s one surprise in the conservative movement’s increasing embrace of “replacement theory,” it might be that it didn’t happen sooner.

President Donald Trump made skepticism of immigrants and refugees his calling card beginning with the launch of his 2016 presidential campaign, accusing countries of sending “rapists” and “murderers” to the border. But it’s taken until Trump was out of office for the idea that immigrants are “replacing” and thus diluting other American voters — an idea that has been popular with white supremacists and white nationalists — to begin to take hold.

It’s a reflection of the lasting impact Trump has had on the movement, even now that he’s out of office, as well as a commentary on just how ripe the party was for such a shift. The shift just took time. Continue reading.

“I Felt Hate More Than Anything”: How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War

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Steven Carrillo’s path to the Boogaloo Bois shows the hate group is far more organized and dangerous than previously known.

It was 2:20 p.m. on June 6, 2020, and Steven Carrillo, a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant who belonged to the anti-government Boogaloo Bois movement, was on the run in the tiny mountain town of Ben Lomond, California.

With deputy sheriffs closing in, Carrillo texted his brother, Evan, asking him to tell his children he loved them and instructing him to give $50,000 to his fiancée. “I love you bro,” Carrillo signed off. Thinking the text message was a suicide note from a brother with a history of mental health troubles, Evan Carrillo quickly texted back: “Think about the ones you love.”

In fact, Steven Carrillo had a different objective, a goal he had written about on Facebook, discussed with other Boogaloo Bois and even scrawled out in his own blood as he hid from police that day. He wanted to incite a second Civil War in the United States by killing police officers he viewed as enforcers of a corrupt and tyrannical political order — officers he described as “domestic enemies” of the Constitution he professed to revere. Continue reading.

Maddow explains exactly why John Cornyn is fighting new DOJ nominee — and it has nothing to do with qualifications

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MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow speculated Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is leading the charge against a key Justice Department nominee because she humiliated him.

Wednesday, Maddow recalled the extensive corruption of Texas cop Tom Coleman who arrested four dozen people claiming that he did an undercover operation and busted them for cocaine. An overwhelming number of those arrested were Black. There was no evidence, no recording of the alleged drug sales, no proof whatsoever. Still, the court believed his testimony over that of the individuals charged. Most were convicted and some were given sentences over 100 years. 

The officer, in that case, was an N-word-spouting racist honored with a police award as Lawman of the Year from then-Attorney General John Cornyn. Continue reading.

‘What the hell?’ MSNBC’s Morning Joe unloads on Ron Johnson for defending Trump’s ‘terrorists’

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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough unloaded on “bigot” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who admittedhe was unafraid of white insurrectionists but would have feared Black Lives Matter protesters.

The Wisconsin Republican later feigned surprise over the strongly negative reaction to his comments, but the “Morning Joe” host called out the racism and inaccuracy in Johnson’s claims — and his subsequent denials.

“An ‘innocuous comment,'” Scarborough said, quoting the senator’s denial. “An innocuous comment where he said, I’m going to get in trouble for saying this.’ He knew exactly what he was doing. Let me tell you, Ron, the left doesn’t want you to be silenced, because the more you say bigoted things like the other day, the more you actually help the left and the more you hurt Republicans. So, yes, Ron, they don’t want you to be silenced, and of course, you aren’t silenced, because you actually wrote an op-ed in one of the largest newspapers on the planet, one of the most important newspapers on the planet. We keep hearing this, ‘I will not be silenced,’ as people write op-eds in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and go on national news networks and get more access to the American people than anybody else. It’s just a stupid, stupid argument.” Continue reading.