During a new appearance on Fox News, Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) promoted a version of the great replacement theory, a racist/white supremacist conspiracy theory that alleges that native-born residents/white Americans are being intentionally replaced in the voting population and/or population in general with outsiders and, specifically, foreigners.
The key part is the delusion that there’s some kind of specific intention to undercut native-born Americans, with many of those in the circles adhering to or espousing the theory meaning white Americans in particular. But in any iteration, the allegation of a specific intent to push undocumented immigrants into the United States to exact some kind of population impact is next-level delusional.
“Everybody says, ‘Why, why would they do this? They’re such a catastrophe for the country. Why would the president knowingly allow this?'” Johnson stated on Fox, referring to a purported stance among Democrats in favor of “open borders.” “Because they wanted to turn these people into voters. That’s plain. And they want to change the outcome of the census in six years. It sounds sinister, and it is. And they’ve exacted untold damage on the country.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar argued that, in the clip, Johnson “pushes the great replacement conspiracy theory that has motivated mass shooters.”
“This is the EXACT kind of rhetoric that got 23 people murdered in El Paso in 2019. Incredibly disappointed to hear @SpeakerJohnson scapegoating and vilifying immigrants instead of working toward real, bipartisan immigration reform,” added Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) on the platform.
Republicans, including leading figures in the House, have consistently rejected opportunities for bipartisan action on immigration. Party members tanked a bipartisan deal in that area proposed in the Senate, though the initiative was recently coming back up for further consideration.
