Read Greg Sargent’s Washington Post column HERE
Washington, DC – A new column from Greg Sargent in The Washington Post, “Mike Johnson’s conspiracy theories about ‘illegals’ mark a new GOP low” shines a light on newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s endorsement of the dangerous and vile great replacement theory that now grips the GOP.
Find key excerpts from the piece below, including a quote from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice and details from America’s Voice research on Mike Johnson (read the Sargent column in full HERE):
“Rep. Mike Johnson, the newly elected House speaker, has repeatedly flirted with what’s known as the ‘great replacement theory,’ the idea that Democrats are scheming to supplant American voters with immigrants. The Louisiana Republican’s views show how fringe conspiracy theories have gone mainstream in the Republican Party at the highest levels of power.
‘This is the plan of our friends on this side — to turn all the illegals into voters,’ Johnson said at a congressional hearing in May 2022, gesturing at Democrats. ‘That’s why the border’s open.’
The ‘open borders’ trope is a lie, and while a few municipalities allow voting for noncitizens in local elections, in no sense do national Democrats have any such ‘plan’ for ‘all the illegals.’
… The pro-immigrant group America’s Voice, which tracks lawmakers’ positions on the issue, has not documented any comparable rhetoric in Johnson’s predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
‘Johnson has gone farther than most of his Republican colleagues in elevating alarmist and dangerous rhetoric,’ says Vanessa Cárdenas, the group’s executive director.”
Resources and Background
- Read America’s Voice statement on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s Embrace of Dangerous White Nationalist Conspiracies HERE and find more examples about Rep. Johnson’s use of dangerous white nationalist conspiracies via this America’s Voice research overview HERE
- Also read Maria Cardona’s opinion column in The Hill, highlighting Mike Johnson’s use of “replacement” and “invasion” conspiracies alongside other extremist views HERE
