Cruz Speech One of Many at RNC to Invoke White Nationalist and Deadly “Replacement” and “Invasion” Rhetoric; Remarks are Precisely What Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar Warned About Yesterday
Washington, DC —Ahead of last night’s anti-immigrant ugliness at the RNC, America’s Voice predicted that speakers on stage would advance a collection of dangerous lies and immigration conspiracies, despite the connections to real world violence and the consensus calls after the Butler, PA shooting for a more responsible brand of politics that tamps down, rather than ratchets up, the risk of political violence.
Unfortunately, the RNC’s focus last night was as lurid and dangerous as we had feared. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) encapsulated the evening – and the GOP’s relentless and dangerous xenophobia of recent years in the process. Cruz noted:
“We are facing an invasion on our southern border. Not figuratively. A literal invasion … every day, Americans are dying — murdered, assaulted, raped by illegal immigrants that the Democrats have released … It happened because Democrats cynically decided they wanted votes from illegals more than they wanted to protect our children” [read an excellent Philip Bump analysis of Cruz’s speech in the Washington Post, noting Sen. Cruz’s reliance on “grotesque rhetoric” and lies and conspiracies].
Two weeks shy of the five year anniversary of the El Paso massacre, Cruz’s rhetoric echoes the white nationalist and antisemitic manifesto of the Walmart shooter of 23 people, as well as other deadly attacks in Buffalo, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. Cruz was far from alone at the RNC, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Republican leader, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), and GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake (AZ) and Bernie Moreno (OH) each used their time on stage to push versions of the replacement theory (see here for details).
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Senator Ted Cruz sounded disturbingly similar to the white nationalist mass murderer who carried out a targeted attack in his home state just five years ago. In one ugly speech, Senator Cruz depicted migrants as literal ‘invaders,’ highlighted lurid crimes to falsely portray immigrants as threats, and touted the ‘replacement’ lie that Democrats and elites are orchestrating immigration to fundamentally transform and take over the nation and seize political power.
We as a nation know tragically well that bigoted conspiracies that lie about the threat posed by immigrants and sow distrust in American elections can and have led to deadly violence. Only days after the shootings in Butler and just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the El Paso Walmart shooting, these are incendiary and inciting lies and language we all should be outraged by, no matter your political views.”
In contrast to her Texas delegation colleague Senator Cruz, on a virtual press briefing America’s Voice organized yesterday, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) called Republicans’ language and use of “invasion” rhetoric “alarming” and highlighted how “the MAGA extremists that are my colleagues are doing everything possible to paint immigrants as criminals.” As The Guardian reported:
“As the Democratic congresswoman from El Paso, Texas, where five years ago a white supremacist targeted Latino shoppers at a Walmart in the city, killing 23 people, Escobar said she knows first hand how dangerous rhetoric can have deadly consequences. She told reporters on a call Tuesday [before the Cruz speech]: ‘The incredibly dark vision that Donald Trump and his running mate and the Republican GOP have in store for America is a throwback to very, very dark days that we have seen in American history.’ She added that Republicans ‘want the American public to fear and loathe immigrants’.”
Additionally, throughout last night at the RNC, speakers tried to whitewash and reinvent the real Trump first-term record on immigration and the border. See this fact sheet with resources and reminders of the reality of Trump’s actual record – chaotic, cruel and a failure.
Key Resources
- Press release and link to virtual briefing yesterday with Rep. Veronica Escobar and policy advocates and experts assessing J.D. Vance selection and previewing RNC (see here)
- Fact Sheets and Resources: “Reality Check: Immigrants Are Essential To Wisconsin’s Economy”
- America’s Voice breaks down the most important issues to watch re: immigration: Immigration Memo: Key Questions at RNC Convention
- Resources to be prepared for mis- and disinformation: RNC Cheat Sheet – When Trump and Republicans Say the Following on Immigration…
- Public opinion analysis from AV: “New Gallup Immigration Polling: Americans Remain Strongly Supportive of Immigration and Citizenship; Want Reform Over Broken Status Quo”
- Resources and links: “Ahead of Promised Anti-Immigrant Ugliness at RNC, Resources and Reminders About Immigrants in Wisconsin and What You Need to Know”
- Statement: “America’s Voice on J.D. Vance and Immigration”
- Statement: “Vanessa Cárdenas Reflects on Political Violence Following Pennsylvania Shooting and Ahead of RNC”
