Former GOP Rep. David Jolly said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that rhetoric on immigration used to “scare white America” is the “ethos of today’s Republican Party.”
Host Joy Reid said, “The idea that little kids in Springfield, Ohio, can’t go to school without armed guards surrounding them is JD Vance’s fault. He represents them in the United States Senate. There’s an election coming up in which his name will be on the ballot, and he will be being asked to be elevated to the vice presidency of the United States after doing that to children in his own state. They expect Republicans, particularly white Republicans, to vote for him and in the Senate race against Sherrod Brown. Should we expect better of the voters in Ohio that they will not do that?”
Jolly said, “This is a horrific moment for this campaign and for the country, and it was incited by JD Vance and Laura Loomer and Donald Trump and others. I think, I believe it was last week, you and I discussed the emerging Willy Horton narrative that Donald Trump and JD Vance would lay down. Perhaps this is it, the 2024 version of the Willy Horton Ad. They’re going to scare white America to say, in this case, legal immigrants who are contributing to our community are somehow a threat, and then it brings out the Proud Boys and brings out the bomb threats and so forth. I would also say, though, for JD Vance and Donald Trump, they don’t escape as being the only people culpable. This is a reflection of today’s Republican Party. ”
He added, “I can draw a direct thread to the words of Katie Britt in her response to the State of the Union. They were essentially black and brown people are coming into your white communities and you should be scared. She gave this speech about how terrifying it is to be a white woman because black and brown people might come into your neighborhood. This is not just this campaign strategy, the ethos of today’s Republican Party.”
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