Neo-Nazi Replacement Theory Finds New Home in House Republican Caucus

“Replacement theory”, once a fringe idea floating in white supremacist circles, has found its way into the bloodstream of the House Republican caucus.

From Conference Chair and head of GOP messaging Elise Stefanik, to vulnerable Rep. Scott Perry, to alleged sex trafficker Matt Gaetz, House Republicans have begun to embrace this white supremacist theory with open arms.

• Washington Post: How Republicans learned to stop worrying and embrace ‘replacement theory’ — by name

• Washington Post: Tucker Carlson’s toxic ‘replacement’ rhetoric gets picked up in the House

• MSNBC: Republicans become more brazen about embracing ‘replacement theory’

• Axios: A racist conspiracy theory goes mainstream

• Business Insider: A racist conspiracy theory called the ‘great replacement’ has made its way from far-right media to the GOP

REMINDER: Last Congress, Kevin McCarthy said on Face The Nation that former Rep. Steve King’s racist replacement theory comments had “no place in America.”

Just three months after King endorsed replacement theory in an interview, McCarthy stripped King of his committee assignments.

But now, Kevin McCarthy is refusing to take action against this racist and dangerous rhetoric that’s become even more prominent in his conference. Here’s a snippet of some of the comments made by his members and candidates:

• Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21)

  • Claims in ads that Democrats’ plans to grant amnesty “will overthrow our current electorate”

• Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10)

  • “For many Americans, what seems to be happening or what they believe right now is happening is, what appears to them is we’re replacing national-born Americans, native-born Americans to permanently transform the landscape of this very nation.”

• Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY-22)

  • Claims that unvaccinated hospital workers will be replaced with “foreign workers”

• Rep. Beth Van Duyne (TX-24)

  • Claims immigrants near Del Rio, Texas “have invaded that community and are absolutely destroying the city” 

• Rep. Yvette Herrell (NM-02)

  • Claims that if we don’t get a handle on the southern border “we will dilute the American way so much”

• Jarome Bell (Candidate for VA-02)

  • “American women worked for more than a century for their place in society. Only to be replaced in the work force by cheap immigrant labor from south of the border and Asia.”

• Derrick Van Orden (Candidate for WI-03)

  • Agrees that Democrats voted to grant citizenship to “rapists and murderers” to expand their electorate

• Rep. Brian Babin (TX-36)

  • “They want to replace the American electorate with a Third World electorate that will be on welfare and public assistance.”

“House Republicans have consistently stoked divisions through fear and racism because they have no actual plans to help the American people,“ said DCCC Spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre. “Their disturbing embrace of the racist replacement theory is dangerous for our democracy, and McCarthy’s refusal to condemn it is further evidence that their party has become far too extreme for the American people.”

###