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Representative Elise Stefanick (RN.Y.), Republican № 3 in the House of Representatives, and other Republican lawmakers were screened Sunday for repeatedly repeating the racist theory of the “great swap” that apparently inspired the 18- a one-year-old man who allegedly killed 10 people while targeting blacks at a supermarket in Buffalo.
The unfounded conspiracy theory claims that politicians are trying to erase white Americans and their influence by replacing them with non-white immigrants. The theory has been cited many times by 18-year-old shooting suspect Peyton Hendron in an online document that appears to outline his intention to carry out his planned attack in Buffalo due to the large black population.
Eleven of the 13 people shot dead at Tops Friendly Markets on Saturday were black, police said.
Buffalo residents are still in trouble after a gunman launched a racially motivated attack on a grocery store, killing 10 people. (Video: Zoeann Murphy / The Washington Post)
Although Stefanik did not insist on the theory by name, she and other conservatives reiterated the principles of far-right ideology as part of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that set fire to the Republican base before the midterm elections.
This marked a rapid transformation for Stefanik, who sought to reconcile firmly with former President Donald Trump and his nativist program “Make America Great Again” last year after she replaced Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) As GOP Conference Chair. . Cheney has been pushed to criticize Trump’s role in spreading lies about losing his election and inciting the deadly January 6, 2021, uprising in the US Capitol.
In response to Saturday’s shooting, Stefanik tweeted that the United States was heartbroken by the tragic news of the horrific loss of life in Buffalo. We grieve for the whole community and loved ones, “she wrote, before thanking law enforcement for facing” skyrocketing violent crimes. “
Our nation is heartbroken by the tragic news of the horrific loss of life in Buffalo.
We grieve for the whole society and our relatives. During #NationalPoliceWeek, we should thank and honor our law enforcement and first aid teams who are heroically confronted with growing violent crime.
– Representative Eliza Stefanik (@RepStefanik) 14 May 2022
But spokesman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Who is no stranger to blaming his colleagues for Trump, tweeted if he knew that “@EliseStefanik is pushing for a white replacement theory.”
“@GOPLeader should be asked about this,” he said, referring to House of Representatives minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California). His office did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Kinzinger was referring to a series of Facebook ads published in September 2021 by Stefanik’s election committee accusing Democrats of allowing illegal immigrants into the United States as a ploy to outdo and ultimately silence Republican voters.
“The Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move to date: A PERMANENT ELECTION,” reads one of the ads, which shows migrants wearing sunglasses that Biden wears. “Their amnesty plan for 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will bring down our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.
MP Stefanik claims in advertisements that the Democrats are looking for a “permanent electoral revolt” by providing roads to citizenship
This is a similar argument, often supported by Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson, which has led the Anti-Defamation League to repeatedly call for his dismissal in April 2021, after he seemed to approve the concept during one of his segments.
On September 22, Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson misrepresented President Biden’s past immigration remarks to suggest the existence of a “great replacement theory.” (Video: Adriana Usero / The Washington Post)
A spokesman for Stefanik, who wished to remain anonymous to speak openly about her thinking, said the ads were launched at a time when New York was debating whether to allow approximately 1 million non-residents to vote in local elections alone. . The city council approved the measure in December, allowing those living in New York for more than 30 days with a work permit – not undocumented immigrants – to participate.
In a scathing editorial in response to the “disgusting” advertisements, the newspaper in Stefanik’s hometown, the Times Union of Albany, wrote that the New York representative was “not so brazen as to use the slogans themselves; rather, it hates hatred in alarmist anti-immigrant rhetoric, which has become standard food for Donald Trump’s party.
In response, Stefanic said Republicans support “legal immigration, while Democrats support amnesty for illegals.”
“To equate the opposition to illegal immigration with Nazism and the supremacy of whites is a desperate attempt to provoke outrage and avoid reflecting on Joe Biden’s border crisis,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
In a statement Sunday in response to resumed posts in light of the Buffalo massacre, Stefanic’s senior adviser, Alex de Grass, said: Trump. allies and rogue stenographers in the media. Shooting is an act of evil and the criminal must be prosecuted in full. “
He added: “Despite the disgusting and false reporting, [the] The congresswoman has never advocated a racist position or made a racist statement. “
In a statement Monday, de Grasse cited previous claims by some Democrats and liberal groups that legalizing more immigrants could help the Democratic Party in the election.
“It is dangerous and false to say that Congresswoman Stefanik supports racist theories simply because she wants strong border security and opposes it. amnesty like most Americans, “he said.” In fact, she’s just repeating the Democratic Party’s main political position in her September Facebook ad. “
Other Republicans in Congress are pushing the theory more clearly. Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.), The current Speaker of the Conservative Parliament for Freedom, said during a hearing of a subcommittee on migration from Central America last year that many Americans believe that “we are replacing Native Americans with Native Americans.” Americans – to permanently transform the political landscape of this nation. “
After the ADL again called for Carlson’s dismissal in September, Matt Goetz (R-Fla.) Spoke in his defense, tweeting that the Fox News presenter “has RULES on replacement theory as he explains what’s going on.” with America. “
A December 2010 study by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs found that one in three adults in the United States believes there is an “effort to replace American citizens with immigrants for electoral gain.” More Republicans believe in the probability than Democrats, 36% to 27%.
Representative Brian Higgins (DN.Y.), who represents the Buffalo area, called on leaders to condemn the theory and acknowledge the dangers that come with its rhetoric.
“The Great Replacement theory is racist nonsense that cynical politicians have used to fuel division in America. “What really needs to be replaced in this country is ignorance and hatred, which lead to division, perpetuate lies and kill our neighbors,” he said in a statement on Sunday. “The rise of racism in all its forms is sick and un-American, and everyone – especially those who call themselves leaders – must speak out against it.
McCarthy and other Republican leaders remained largely silent on the change rhetoric adopted by some of their colleagues, hoping to keep their focus on the economy and other issues they believe would help them regain the House and Senate. in November.
This dynamic also explains Stefanik’s transformation.
Last year, Republicans tried to remove Cheney from the leadership for her repeated criticism of Trump since the Jan. 6 uprising, saying they considered it a distraction and said Cheney should have focused on holding a single Republican conference before the midterm mandates.
Stefanic was considered a favorite in Cheney’s place, but was met with considerable rejection from colleagues who doubted he could represent the Trump conference, given its origins as a pro-business, anti-tax Republican cut by the same fabric like mentor Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), a former House spokesman.
Her experience in immigration was also questioned before she was promoted to leadership. A number of anti-immigration groups have criticized its March 2021 vote on the Agricultural Workforce Permit Act, for example, which would give legal status to undocumented agricultural workers in the United States.
From Paul Ryan’s aide to Trump student: Stefanik seeks to replace Cheney in Republican leadership
Since then, Stefanik has followed the trends of his party and the county, which was once a stronghold of the Democrats, but deviated from Trump with a double-digit advantage in 2016 and 2020.
She quickly gained Trump’s support after defending him during the impeachment process and has since spread his lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
Just last week, Stefanik seems to have stepped up QAnon’s prominent conspiracy language focused on pedophiles when he said the Biden administration had no plan to tackle the current shortage of infant formula, calling Democrats “pedophiles.”
A spokesman later clarified that the term referred to the Committee on Political Action Against Trump Project Lincoln, in particular allegations that a former co-founder had sent unjustified sexual messages to young men.
She and several congressmen, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Also spent last week spreading lies that the Biden administration gave priority to sending baby formula to migrant babies at the border instead of feeding …
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