Doubling down


"Republicans in Congress aggressively pushed back against charges their rhetoric may have helped fuel the hate of the 18-year-old Buffalo shooter who allegedly committed one of the deadliest racist murder sprees in recent history Saturday, even as one of their GOP colleagues accused them of enabling white nationalism.
"The House’s third-ranking Republican, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York tweeted out a statement on Monday morning decrying as false any attempt to blame her for the rampage targeting Black people — less than 30 minutes before posting a tweet that echoed tenets of the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory that investigators believe may have motivated the shooter."
*snip*
“Absolutely not,” Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said repeatedly when asked in the Capitol Monday whether he believed his rhetoric could have contributed to the belief system of the shooter. The senator suggested in a Fox Business interview last year that Democrats want to “remake the demographics of America” to “stay in power forever.” Johnson said reporters should ask Biden about immigration rather than “trying to drag up some weird theory.” https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/16/nation/republicans-who-helped-advance-racist-theory-connected-buffalo-shooting-dont-repudiate-their-rhetoric/?fbclid=IwAR07cJzVes2eLWlWKrZmYpWuEfTRezgN-n6baFlaeLc08_RPXJTpBMMerXk

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