Extreme expression of GOP’s worldview

Views from around the world. These opinions are not necessarily shared by Stuff newspapers.

Politicianswho have employed some of the vocabulary of replacement theory generally do not make explicit calls for violence. The office of one of those politicians, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, said the Buffalo attack was an ‘‘act of evil’’ and she ‘‘has never advocated for any racist position’’. The matter is not so simple.

Replacement theory is an attack on democracy. It privileges the purported interests of some Americans over those of others, asserting, in effect, that the will of the people means the will of white people. It rekindles fears and resentments among white Americans. It also provides a disturbing rationalisation for people inclined to resort to violence when the political process does not deliver what they want or protect what they see as their place in society.

It is telling that House Republicans last year installed Stefanik in leadership to replace Representative Liz Cheney ofWyoming, who remains among the most forthright critics of the Republican Party’s illiberal turn.

Cheney tweeted on Monday: ‘‘The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.’’ She’s right.