Ron Johnson criticized for ‘replacement theory’ talk
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is pushing back against criticism that he is promoting the “great replacement theory” — a conspiracy that white Americans are being systematically “replaced” by immigrants and minorities.
But the Anti-Defamation League, which examined Johnson’s comments at the request of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said the Wisconsin senator was promulgating a “subtle” version of the more overtly racist and antisemitic rhetoric circulated by white supremacists.
The idea was expressed in a manifesto by the suspect in the racially motivated shooting rampage in Buffalo that left 10 dead.
National news organizations like the New York Times have written that the “theory has migrated from the farright fringes of American discourse toward the center of Republican politics.”
In its roundup, The Times focused on a comment Johnson made during an interview last year in which he said the “administration wants complete open borders. And you have to ask yourself why? Is it really they want to remake the demographics of America to ensure their — that they stay in power forever?”
This week, Johnson rejected the accusation he was engaging in the theory.
He tweeted, “I’ve spoken extensively on the inhumanity of the Biden admin’s open border policies. Pushing the lie that criticizing this admin’s policies in any way supports ‘replacement theory’ is another example of the corporate media working overtime to cover up the Biden admin’s failures.”
The Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate group, examined several of Johnson’s remarks and said the senator “touches on” the replacement theory when he talks about changing the country’s electorate.
“White supremacists promote a very racist and antisemitic version of the theory. Right-wing politicians and pundits use a more subtle form of the GRT,” the ADL said in a statement.
“Senator Ron. Johnson, while more subtle than others promoting the GRT, touches on the theory in (recent) statements.”
In an interview Tuesday with WSAU radio, Johnson called the Buffalo shooting “a horrendous tragedy, and all of our hearts go out to all of the victims and their surviving loved ones.”
Johnson charged President Joe Biden was politicizing the Buffalo tragedy, telling WSAU, “It is, as the Wall Street Journal described, what he’s doing is despicable, what Democrats are doing, trying to blame conservatives for the deranged actions of a deranged individual.”
During his remarks in Buffalo, Biden condemned the gunman’s “hateful, perverse ideology rooted in fear and racism” and called out those who have pushed the “Great Replacement
Theory.”
Biden said that “through the media and politics,” the Internet has “radicalized angry, lost and isolated individuals” into believing the theory.
Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning said in a statement: “This blatantly political attempt by the media and Democrats to blame Republicans for a deranged killer in Buffalo is despicable.
“Sen. Johnson has never spoken about this racist theory and any attempt to characterize his criticism of President Biden’s inhumane open border policies or his pointing out Democrats’ own words supporting open borders for electoral gains is disgusting and an outright lie. This is yet another diversionary tactic by the corporate media working overtime to cover up for the disasters of the Biden administration.”
Johnson has said or implied the administration is trying to change the makeup of the electorate several times in recent months.
In a May 2 interview with the Ross Kaminsky Show on KOA radio in Denver, Johnson discussed the border issue and made the case for a legal immigration system. But when asked what explained the Biden administration policy on the border, Johnson said:
“The only thing I can think of — the only thing that makes sense — is they want to let a lot of people in. They want to let ‘em in. They want to get credit as Democrats for letting a bunch of people into this country illegally and then set up a system of voting that’s all mail-in balloting where you can send out ballots. “You have no control over who’s voting, whether they’re citizen or non-citizen, whether they’re eligible or not, and they can basically remake the electorate, so they establish themselves in permanent power as a one-party state.
“So, they complete their fundamental transformation, in other words, their fundamental destruction of this country. I don’t know why they want to do that, but that’s as best I can understand is what they want to do.”