Pennsylvania U.S. Congressman Mike Kelly is one of a growing number of national Republican lawmakers who amplify and normalize violence-inciting xenophobic “great replacement” and “invasion” rhetoric and conspiracy theories, states a report released Friday by a group of civil, human, and immigrant rights organizations.
“The Bigoted Conspiracy Caucus,” which “underscores the alarming rise of racially and politically motivated extremist violence animated by these conspiracies,” is a joint report authored and endorsed by America’s Voice, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Bend the Arc, HIAS, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Presente.org, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Western States Center. It states that 165 members of Congress have spread this bigoted misinformation “through legislative actions, Congressional hearings, official press releases, and thousands of social media posts.”
“Members of Congress adopting an anti-democratic conspiracy theory rooted in white nationalism and antisemitism is a serious and urgent problem,” said America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas. “As this new report documents, anti-semitism and white nationalism-rooted rhetoric is not an isolated problem, but rather a feature of the 118th Congress. We call on all Members of Congress to denounce and stop using bigoted conspiracies.”
READ: The Theology Behind the Christian Nationalist View on Immigration
The report highlights Kelly’s statement during a Republican-orchestrated congressional hearing featuring a speaker from the anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a “hate group.”
“The truth of the matter is we have serious problems at our border. Four-and-a-half million illegal entries into our country. If they were wearing the uniform of a foreign country, we would think we were being invaded and we would say, ‘my God, who is watching the border?’” said the U.S. Congressman representing northwestern Pennsylvania.
The report cites multiple examples of Republicans it claims are part of this caucus, while also showing how ideas and rhetoric once relegated to fringes of white nationalist, anti-immigrant, and neo-Nazi figures and thought leaders are now mainstream in today’s Trump-led Republican Party. Some examples cited include:
– House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X that the crisis at the border was created “intentionally.”
– Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL) wrote in a column “Don’t Haiti My Florida” that there is a “forgotten invasion” in his state.
– Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) tweeted that “Our country is experiencing a full-fledged invasion, with illegal immigrants pouring across our borders in record numbers”
– Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) tweeted that Democrats “have spent nearly four years working to systematically replace the American people. There have been over 7.2 million illegal crossings at our Southern border, greater than the population of 36 states.”
– Senator Ted Cruz (TX) tweeted “The Real State of the Union: Over 176,000 illegal aliens crossed the southern border in January. This is a full-blown invasion!”
This type of rhetoric has consequences, the report notes, citing “the alarming rise of racially and politically motivated extremist violence animated by these conspiracies,” which includes “mass shootings in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Christchurch, Poway, and El Paso, and more recent cases like the arrests of three individuals planning anti-immigrant attacks along the southern border.”
Western States Center Director of Programs Lindsay Schubiner warns as long as this type of bigoted rhetoric and conspiracy theories continue to be tolerated and mainstreamed, more racially targeted violence can be expected.
READ: White nationalism is a political ideology that mainstreams racist conspiracy theories
“Too often, we have seen members spout dangerous, bigoted falsehoods, and rather than immediately being rebuked, condemned, and isolated, these members are welcomed into the mainstream,” said Schubiner. “It’s high time we hold these elected officials accountable for their recklessness. The Bigoted Conspiracy Caucus report shows how widespread this type of dangerous rhetoric has become among elected officials and how such ideas are influencing their governance.”
One way to hold them accountable is with your vote in November.
