It’s Not Racism If White People Say It Isn’t

After the deadly mass shooting in Buffalo, Representative Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, is facing scrutiny for echoing the racist “great replacement” theory in campaign advertisements. https://t.co/1yJfttFUe2

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 17, 2022

"On Monday, [Stefanik] released a lengthy statement attacking the media for reporting on statements she has made that echo replacement theory claims, but never disavowed the ideology, and did not condemn racism or white supremacy." https://t.co/0XuzHOcIy3

— George Conway🇺🇦 (@gtconway3d) May 17, 2022

“Like Mr. Trump, she vehemently defends herself against charges of holding any racist views, while at the same time using rhetoric that energizes far-right and fringe groups.” https://t.co/1rvh449KW5

— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) May 17, 2022

And once again, with feeling:

Trump was/is a cancer on the Republican Party. There was a time I thought you could remove him and save the party. But looking at these GOP primaries—not to mention the last 18 months—it’s clear Trump has metastasized across the party. And it can’t be saved.

— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) May 17, 2022

Trump is not the disease, Trump is the symptom.

Thank you @jheil https://t.co/SLi4amT0xr

— Nicolle Wallace (@NicolleDWallace) May 17, 2022

Trump is not leading the parade, he’s just making sure he stays in front of it. The problem is, the GOP has collapsed, and this is what’s left.

Trump, calling into a @droz rally, spoke of the border. "It's like an invasion. And the numbers are far greater than anybody would say. They talked about a million to 2 million. I think it's maybe 4 or 5 times that amount."

Border Patrol: 1 mill "encounters" in 6 months.

— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) May 17, 2022

Trump’s only contribution is the exaggeration, a purely Trumpian touch. “Invasion” is a white supremacist touch, but there’s never been any question of Trump’s racism. He didn’t bring that to the party either. Racism was already there, brought to the fore by the election of Obama (McConnell was doing it before Trump was anything more than a small-time reality TV host), but present as another reason the GOP replaced the Democrats in the south. Obama was the last straw for them. He was the first crisis, Covid the second, the 2020 election the third. Trump didn’t change the party; Trump is what the party has become after long and unstinting effort.

Why the Democrats can’t do more with that is another sign party no longer matters, except for easy ballot access. The GOP is functioning from the ground up, toxic and deranged as those roots are. Democrats can’t function at the ground level well enough to challenge the GOP outside of where they win now.  Or so all the pundits say. Most of them are just surprised to find out how many of their fellow citizens are racists.  Then again, the pundits pretty much don't associate with the people they are shocked to find populating America.

We'll see what happens in November.