Read “From Radical Fringe to GOP Mainstream: ‘Replacement Theory’ is Now Central Organizing Principle of the Republican Party” HERE
Washington, DC – A new report from America’s Voice, “From Radical Fringe to GOP Mainstream: ‘Replacement Theory’ is Now Central Organizing Principle of the Republican Party” explores the racist “Great Replacement Theory” and its disturbing evolution from a noxious idea limited to the white supremacist fringe into an idea amplified by a growing number of Republican elected officials, Tucker Carlson, and other conservative leaders and media figures.
Among the key excerpts from the report include:
“On the evening of August 11, 2017, an organized mass of white supremacists marched with tiki torches through Charlottesville, Virginia. This Ku Klux Klan simulacrum chanted anti-Semitic and white nationalist slogans including “Jews will not replace us! You will not replace us!” The terrifying scene, followed by the murderous political violence the next day forced an obscure racist fiction into mainstream discussion. This angry mob were defending the ideas of the Confederacy that day in Charlottesville and were promoting a bigoted conspiracy theory generally known as the “great replacement.”
This racist lie holds that non-whites migrants from the global south, are an existential and immediate threat, leading an “invasion” resulting in crime, disease, and the destruction of democracy. We were reminded again of this horrific event last year during a trial that found its white supremacists leaders liable for inciting violence. The plaintiffs in the case were awarded $25 million in damages.
In spite of the rank bigotry, fatal violence, and blatant falseness of ‘replacement theory,’ leading Republicans spent 2021 fully embracing the idea for their own cynical and craven ends. These are the real world consequences of the GOP’s new message.
Now, ‘replacement theory’ has become a mainstay of the GOP. At America’s Voice, we monitor and track GOP messaging and advertising on immigration and xenophobia and have seen a dramatic increase in the use of the “replacement theory.”
After Donald Trump spoke in Phoenix, Arizona on January 15, 2022, John Harwood, the White House correspondent for CNN, tweeted, “the resentments of white people who fear non-whites are eclipsing them in 21st century America is, now overtly, the engine of the Trump-era Republican political/media apparatus.”
Fears of being ‘replaced’ is a potent message and has motivated nationalists, conspiracy theorists, Capitol insurrectionists and mass murderers in El Paso, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. This new report outlines the extensive use of the dangerous theory by Republicans, tracking its growth and demonstrating how widespread it now is. It also tracks how the conspiracy theory has been embraced by Republican leadership, in both media and paid advertising.
According to Zachary Mueller, Senior Political Manager of America’s Voice and the lead author of the report:
While Republicans’ embrace of ‘replacement theory’ is not entirely new, it has disconcertingly grown to become a mainstay of the GOP, a central organizing principle. Heading into what will already be a difficult election for them, Democrats cannot be caught unaware of this challenge. They must be fully prepared to call out Republicans who espouse these ideas and tie them to the violent racists who act on these ideas. We know Republicans will drive many attacks on Democrats on issues related to race, including immigration, teaching about racism, and opposing police violence. Democrats must present a different vision in contrast to the lie of ‘replacement theory’ and white supremacy to remind Americans that we are a nation built on values and ideals we strive towards and not one of blood and soil.
- Read the new report, “From Radical Fringe to GOP Mainstream: ‘Replacement Theory’ is Now Central Organizing Principle of the Republican Party”
