Combating the Nativist Narrative
Week of March 23, 2023
The Normalization of Deadly Invasion Rhetoric:
As we have been warning the right is finding increasing success normalizing the invasion rhetoric despite it being directly linked to multiple deadly terrorist attacks and rooted in white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracies. Evident as this bigoted conspiracy theory is the official position of the Texas government as they defend their draconian immigration legislation in court. It is also evident by its ubiquity last week alone: Republican electeds, officials, and candidates amplified the white nationalist invasion and replacement theory 79 times on X. Just this year, America’s Voice has identified 786 similar posts. Appearing on a Fox News program on Sunday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) critically pushed back on invasion rhetoric, reminding viewers of its intimate connection to political violence. “I think you got to be careful throwing around words like ‘invasion,’” Kaine said. “It was that kind of wording that led the deranged guy to go shoot up the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing folks a couple of years ago. And I think that kind of rhetoric is irresponsible.” Notably, one of the official accounts of the Republican National Committee lifted up Sen. Kaine’s comments, writing: “Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine is more concerned with words than the millions of unvetted illegals flowing across the open border.” It is hard to read the RNC’s post as anything other than - 'we don't care if our rhetoric inspires deadly terrorist attacks linked to an antisemitic & white nationalist conspiracy theory.’ Such a stance not only creates a permission structure for more deadly racist political violence but readily admits it’s the price of admission for their radical immigration position. The post is a sharp illustration of how the GOP views immigration politics in '24. It clearly has nothing to do with actual policy but solely a strategic racist ploy that is meant to lay the foundation for a violent assault on our democracy by demagoguing and dehumanizing the alleged foreign non-white “other” threatening us from within. Crystallizing the GOP’s position the official House GOP account wrote: “FACT What is happening at our Southern Border is an❗INVASION❗”
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: Despite the very clear links to violence, bigotry, and anti-democracy, much of the media will continue to fall for the GOP normalization trap, elevating the invasion rhetoric without context. Other Democrats should use Sen. Kaine’s simple and effective retort.
The GOP is Courting Dehumanizing, Eliminationist Violence:
David Neiwert, who has been writing about the far-right for decades, is out with a new series highlighting the “eliminationist rhetoric” dominating the Trump campaign and the right. “The primary function of eliminationist rhetoric throughout its long and sordid history has been simple and direct: It creates permission. By demonizing and dehumanizing its targets, conceptualizing them as filth and vermin, objects fit only for elimination and eradication,” writes Neiwert. He goes on to document many similar examples that we have noted with this newsletter that underscore the threat of anti-democratic racist political violence coming at a regular clip from the Trump campaign. “But what we also know about this rhetoric is that, as surely as night follows day, this kind of talk eventually begets action, with inevitably tragic results,” he continues. Republicans are, unfortunately, providing numerous examples of this problem well beyond the Trump campaign. This week, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), pushing the nativist narrative about “migrant crime,” described immigrants as “animals.” In a more explicit version, James Judge, a Republican running for Florida’s 12th House District, said migrants “SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT!” in a recent Facebook post. “This is not only criminal, this is literally an invasion," Judge wrote on a now removed post. The reflexive rhetoric from Judge is telling, while shocking, it is the natural conclusion from invasion and other dehumanizing eliminationist rhetoric.
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: The dehumanization and the eliminationist rhetoric targeted at a disfavored minority, blaming them for the nation's problems, is not an entirely novel political strategy. But it is one that travels down a dark path, courting racist political violence that ultimately undermines the functioning of a multiracial democracy. We should be clear-eyed that this is the strategy to which the GOP is committed.
Right-wing figures twist tragic loss of essential construction workers into anti-immigrant fodder:
Six immigrant construction workers from Latin America are missing or confirmed dead after a freighter lost power and pummeled into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, this week. The immigrant workers were part of a crew that was repairing potholes on the bridge in the predawn hours when the horrific accident occurred. As we’ve mentioned before and is covered by major outlets (here, here, and here), immigrants play a crucial role in our economic success and post-pandemic rebound. Migrants often take essential jobs that are inherently dangerous, but critical to various industries. These essential workers were doing their jobs to make our road smoother, while working to sustain their own families. Yet in the immediate hours following the tragedy, and before affected families even knew about the status of their loved ones, right-wing media and elected officials twisted this horrific accident to scapegoat immigrants. Conspiracy theories about terrorists who cross the allegedly “open” border to do us harm is now a reflexive and utterly false narrative of conservatives on TV, Twitter, and Congress. In just one example following the tragic accident, Media Matters reported that Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo “suggested the collapse could be due to a ‘wide open border.’ Bartiromo said that the White House issued a statement ‘saying that there is no indication of nefarious intent,’ but she went on to discuss ‘the potential for wrongdoing or potential for foul play given the wide-open border.’” Steven Bannon, a white nationalist ally to former President Donald Trump, insinuated the incident could have been terrorism. This isn’t new. Last fall, anti-immigrant lawmakers and right-wing media were also quick to blame a fatal incident at a U.S.-Canada crossing on immigration-related terrorism, when in reality, it was an accidental car crash involving a married couple. Following the Baltimore tragedy, Maximillian Alvarez, editor-in-chief of the Baltimore-based Real News Network, spoke to the New Republic’s Greg Sargent about the vital role of immigrant workers and the constant attacks they often face. “I plead to people out there,” he said. “We’re not your enemy. Like migrants are not coming to this country to ruin it. Migrants have made this country what it is…we are all in pursuit of a better life for our families, for ourselves, for our future,” adding “don’t forget these men.” Read more here from Gabe Ortíz HERE.
COMBATING THE NARRATIVE: Despite no evidence of plots at either border, the right has employed – and continues to employ – conspiratorial rhetoric alongside real fear and confusion in a dangerous world to cynically advance their extreme nativist political and policy agenda. The reality is that so many migrants risk their lives to come to the United States and then continue taking on risks as they try to make a living and support their families, carrying out essential work that feeds America, makes our roads safer, and boosts our economy. “The pandemic revealed just how essential these workers are to everyday American life, and the continued demonization by right-wing actors is reprehensible,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director at America’s Voice.
POLITICS UPDATES
Presidential Race: The Biden Campaign is running an ad in English and Spanish called “Change.” The ad spotlights Donald Trump’s long history of anti-Latino rhetoric, starting with his 2015 campaign launch calling Mexicans criminals, drug dealers, and “rapists” and his recent invoking of the vile rhetoric used by Hitler, claiming Latino immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country.” Reminding voters of Trump’s rhetoric is critically dangerous and a threat that should be considered at the ballot box. Democratic pollster Matt Barreto, who does extensive polling of Latino voters, explained to CNN’s Ron Brownstein that “Trump improved among Hispanic voters in 2020 because he dialed back his anti-immigrant rhetoric from 2016 and focused instead on reopening the economy from the Covid pandemic – a position that appealed to many economically struggling Hispanics. But now, Barreto said, Trump is ‘definitely running a more extreme cultural White supremacy … agenda than he did in ’16.’” Obviously, time will tell but raising the salience of Trump violently dangerous rhetoric, is a play the Biden campaign thinks is strategically important, and we agree.
FL-15: GOP party leader Donald Trump is mad at U.S. Representative Laurel Lee because she endorsed her state’s governor for President. He recently asked on Truth Social, “Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida’s 15th Congressional District?” A couple of extremists might be heeding his call, according to Daily Kos Elections, “Rogan O'Handley, a conspiracy theorist who tweets under the handle ‘DC_Draino,’ told him he ‘has not ruled anything out,’” and “self-described "proud Islamophobe" Laura Loomer is also considering entering the race. At the launch of her new “documentary,” Talking Points Memo reported she embraced the white nationalist great replacement theory, “Loomer pointed a finger at those she believed were responsible for white Americans “deliberately being replaced” by immigrants.”
NJ-Senate: Incumbent Senator Robert Menendez announced he is not running for the Democratic nomination last week. Over the weekend, one of the other leading candidates, Tammy Murphy, announced she is leaving the race. That means Rep. Andy Kim will secure the Democratic nomination in the June 4th primary. New Jersey hasn’t elected a GOP Senator since 1972, so Kim, the son of Korean immigrants, is well on the path to winning the Senate seat. And he would become the first Korean American senator in our nation’s history.
WEEKLY STATS OF NATIVIST NARRATIVE
Of the 525 GOP Twitter accounts we track, this week, they sent:
661 original tweets peddling anti-immigrant attacks mentioning “border”
158 original tweets about “open borders,” with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweet having the most reach with 636.8K Views, 6.6K Retweets, and 22K Likes.
42 original tweets that used “Biden Border Crisis” with Rep. Jim Jordan tweet having the most reach with 148K Views, 1.1K Retweets, and 5.4K Likes.
16 original tweets that mentioned both “fentanyl” and “border” with the GOP Official account tweet having the most reach with 34.2K views, 248 Retweets and 908 Likes.
Top Articles on social of the week: (Right-wing media still dominating the conversation online)
This past week there were 695.5k interactions, a decrease of ↓ 27% and 12.9k articles published, a decrease of ↓ 28% from last week. Interactions and article count are both lower than the previous week.
Fox News: “All Senate Dems vote against barring taxpayer funds to fly illegal migrants to US towns” - Facebook: 11.9K Interactions X: 4.5k Shares
Fox News: “New York City begins giving illegal immigrants prepaid debit cards as part of $53 million pilot program” - Facebook: 8.2k Interactions X: 1.3k Shares
CBS News: “U.S. Border Patrol chief calls southern border a "national security threat," citing 140,000 migrants who evaded capture” - Facebook: 4.2k Interactions X: 2k Shares