Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg made it clear Sunday that the Biden administration does indeed see the mass shooting that took place in Buffalo on Saturday as a hate crime and that some right-wingers have helped spread the sort of hatred that allegedly led Payton Gendron to shoot and kill 10 people, most of them black.
Buttigieg was a guest on “Face the Nation,” and was asked by host Margaret Brennan if there needs to be a new law that would make domestic terrorism a crime. The secretary replied:
“This would be a good day for every politician in this country — left, right and center — every media figure in this country — left, right and center — to come out and unequivocally condemn white nationalism, so-called ‘replacement theory’ and any other hateful ideology that could have contributed to something like this.”
“Replacement theory” asserts that white Americans are being replaced by immigrants and minorities as some sort of master plan by Democrats to create a permanent hold on government. Among the most vocal proponents of this bogus theory are Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham.
Under the guise of the First Amendment, many on the right have been saying for years that there’s a massive conspiracy afoot to take political power away from whites in the United States. But that change has been taking place for decades as demographic changes happen and many whites have fewer children. It’s not a conspiracy, however. Despite what loons such as Tucker Carlson or his ilk say, the world is not out to get them.
Here’s a thought: If Carlson and others who push replacement theory are so worried, why don’t they start having bigger families? Carlson has four children, but maybe he and his wife should have several more.
Or perhaps Carlson and others on the right need to sit down and stop spreading dangerous lies that inspire people to kill others.
