Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is pushing back against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for attacking her stance on a secure border as embracing “white power” and the left-wing media for advancing the narrative, including the Washington Post and National Public Radio (NPR).
Breitbart News reached out to Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, about the story produced by NPR, which interviewed a University of Chicago professor who is the co-author of A Field Guide to White Supremacy.
“Elected Republican politicians have also made such arguments recently,” Weekend Edition Sunday host Lulu Garcia-Navarro said.
“And one of the highest-ranking members of the House, Republican Elise Stefanik, said in a Facebook ad that the left’s plan to grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington,” Garcia Navarro said.
While the border crisis is real, some in the @GOP and in the right-wing media have been embracing some extreme white power rhetoric around immigration. @kathleen_belew explains. https://t.co/H1xacXMzAa
— Lulu (@lourdesgnavarro) September 26, 2021
“The Stefanik quote is particularly interesting because it’s doing two things at the same time,” Kathleen Belew said. “It’s fanning flames that somehow, incoming populations of immigrants will pose an antidemocratic threat to the country.”
“It’s also reclaiming language that, right now in our debate, is really about January 6, when people who support President Trump aligned with white power activists to attempt an antidemocratic action against the entire country, possibly an act of domestic terror,” Belew said.
But Stefanik told Breitbart News that this narrative is being pushed by the Democratic National Committee, and the media are promoting it, including NPR, the Washington Post, and the Hill.
“Here are the facts: Republicans support legal immigration and oppose mass amnesty for illegal immigrants,” Stefanik told Breitbart News. “Democrats support mass amnesty for at least 11 million illegal immigrants as well as dangerous legislation that would weaken election security, ban voter ID, and prevent states from properly auditing their voter rolls.”
“This would disenfranchise the votes of legal American citizens,” Stefanik said. “To equate the Republicans’ long-held policy position to white supremacy is outrageous and shows how desperate the Far Left is heading into the midterms, because they know that the border crisis rests solely at the feet of Joe Biden and Democrats.”
Earlier this month the DNC posted the accusation about Stefanik:
Representative Elise Stefanik has released new Facebook ads inciting violence and echoing the the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory to push a racist and xenophobic message. DNC spokesperson Adonna Biel released the following statement:
“As another right-wing mob descends upon the Capitol this weekend, Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is echoing the same vile rhetoric that has led to several acts of violence in recent years. Stefanik and the House GOP are recycling the same racist and xenophobic playbook they used in 2018 that ultimately cost them the House. Apparently, this is what it takes to become a member of House Republican leadership – xenophobia and a remarkable commitment to pushing the Big Lie that led to an actual insurrection. Every day House Republicans reach a new low – and today is no different.”
Stefanik’s office issued a statement challenging the Post and the Hill for promoting the DNC narrative. The Hill published a portion of the statement while the Post ignored it. The full statement said:
“This is a total hatchet job by the hacks at the Washington Post doing the desperate bidding of the DNC. The ads have been up for months and literally have nothing to do with any event at the Capitol. Democrats are on record supporting mass amnesty of illegal immigrants for at least 11 million people and are on record supporting dangerous legislation that would weaken election security, ban voter ID, and prevent states from properly auditing their voter rolls. We thank the hacks in the media and the Democrats for spreading our message and therefore helping ensure a massive Red Wave next November. The DNC continues their sick desperation with Congresswoman Stefanik because they know she is a massive threat to Nancy Pelosi’s lame duck and failing speakership that will be over next November.”
Belew, who is white, cited the shooting at a Walmart in Texas where Latinos died and said Republicans issued a memo with racist undertones.
“There was a memo by the GOP directing our attention away from white power activism and towards mental health,” Belew said. “So this directing our attention away has now moved to an open embrace by pundits, by people in the party of an overtly white power tenant.”
“So this is escalating,” Belew said. “This is coming into our halls of power in a way that we have not seen in the recent past.”
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter or send news tips to pstarr@breitbart.com.
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