Rep. Matt Gaetz claims he was speaking about the racist ‘Great Replacement Theory’ in “race-neutral” terms following a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday in which the gunman cited the theory as a motive for killing 10 people at a TOPS supermarket in the predominantly Black neighborhood.
After the shooting, a September tweet from Gaetz praising Fox News host Tucker Carlson for explaining “what is happening to America” by promoting the racist theory on his show, resurfaced.
The ‘Great Replacement Theory‘ claims that an intentional effort is underway to replace white Americans with people of color through immigration. A New York Times investigation found that Carlson promoted the theory more than 400 times on his show.
In a 180-page manifesto the Buffalo gunman Payton Gendron, 18, references the theory as motive for killing 10 people and injuring three more. Eleven of the victims were Black while two were White.
Even though the theory is rooted in racism, Gaetz claimed that when he spoke about it last September it was in “race-neutral political terms” to make a point about how Democrats fail their voters and was seeking to replace them through “unchecked immigration”— which is basically what the theory says.
“I’ve never spoken of replacement theory in terms of race. I was speaking in race-neutral political terms about how Democrats in many urban cities have failed their voters of all color and kind. Thus, I charge that Democrats seek unchecked immigration to replace the people who have relied on them most to their detriment,” Gaetz told Newsweek.
Gaetz was not the only Republican lawmaker who came under fire for promoting the racist theory after Saturday’s shooting. Rep. Else Stefanik (R-N.Y) was also blame for promoting the great replacement theory in Facebook ads last September.
She claimed in the ad that “radical Democrats” plan to “grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.”
Stefanik’s senior adviser, Alex deGrasse told Newsweek that any attempt to blame Saturday’s shooting on the congresswoman is a “new disgusting low for the Left, their Never Trump allies, and the sycophant stenographers in the media.”
“The shooting was an act of evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” DeGrasse said. “Despite sickening and false reporting, Congresswoman [Stefanik] has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement.”
