New America’s Voice backgrounder highlights examples of GOP Oversight Committee members relying on the white nationalist “invasion” and “replacement” conspiracy. Read HERE
Washington, DC – Tomorrow morning, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee will try to outdo their House Judiciary Committee counterparts in defining themselves by dangerous, anti-immigrant extremism and preference for political theater instead of real solutions.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “In no way, shape or form are Oversight Committee Republicans interested in real solutions on immigration or the border. Instead, their aims are political. Remember that the GOP started blaming Biden’s policies for a rise in border encounters that were occurring during the Trump presidency, a full five months before Biden even took office. At tomorrow’s hearing, expect lots of ugly political attack lines, lots of attempts to draw a non-existent link between migrants and the fentanyl crisis and lots of mainstreaming of the same white nationalist ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracy that helped inspire real world deadly attacks.”
- Ahead of tomorrow’s hearing, America’s Voice has released new analysis: “When Republican House Oversight Committee Members Amplified White Nationalist Conspiracy Theories,” summarizing AV’s ongoing research and detailing specific examples of how “most of the Republican Members of the House Oversight Committee have amplified white nationalist ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracy theories over the last few years. Their rhetoric is inexorably tied to the ‘Great Replacement Theory’ and multiple domestic terrorist attacks that have claimed the lives of dozens of Americans over the last several years.”
See below for voices underscoring the dangers of the Republican reliance on white nationalist conspiracies and broader resources relevant to tomorrow’s Oversight hearing:
- Las Vegas Sun editorial, “GOP-led Congress Goes All-in on Spreading Racist Conspiracy Theories”
“The House Judiciary Committee, now under the control of Republican Chairman Jim Jordan and a GOP majority, held its first hearing Wednesday. The hearing was a startling example of GOP extremists using the national spotlight cast on this important committee to openly spread central propaganda arguments employed by fascist movements for more than a century … Despite the testimony and the fact checking, GOP members of the committee doubled down on their purposeful and hateful rhetoric … as long as there are bigots spreading neo-fascist propaganda leading the House Judiciary Committee, there’s little hope that Congress will take meaningful action to solve today’s challenges, let alone the challenges of tomorrow. That failure will continue to feed fear, resentment and divisions in our communities.”
- Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, on a press call week (as covered by Ryan Devereaux of The Intercept):
“These sorts of ideas, this dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric, is causing a horrific distortion in the way that we deal with immigration and immigration policy, and it’s also leading to violence … When migrants are described as invaders, that leads to violence … Because how else does one stop an invasion? … I’m frankly just astounded that you could have so many political figures on the right parroting ideas that have led to mass murder.”
- “How Upcoming House GOP Hearings Will Mainstream Dangerous Conspiracies,” an op-ed from AV Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas (in English and Spanish)
- America’s Voice blog: “Debunking the GOP’s Fentanyl Narrative”
- America’s Voice memo: “Four Points to Keep in Mind as Republicans Tee Up Anti-Immigrant Hearings and Attacks”
- America’s Voice backgrounder: “GOP Threatens Public Safety with Push for DHS Secretary Impeachment Based on White Nationalist Conspiracy Theories”
