Multiple pro-Trump Republicans are under fire and backpedaling after a leaked document sparked accusations of racism. The document describes plans for creating an “America First” caucus, which calls for the protection of “Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” MSNBC’s Ari Melber is joined by MSNBC’s Juanita Tolliver to discuss the fallout and what this document signals about the GOP in the post-Trump era.
As the Republican Party has made abundantly clear over the last number of years, one of its main platforms is racism. Obviously, in 2021, it’s hard to just come out and say, “Whites Only, Please,” though one group of GOP lawmakers has come extremely close, and by close, we mean that it presumably won’t be long before they start doing team-building exercises that involve burning crosses and sporting white hoods around the Capitol.
News reports that an emerging “America First Caucus“ linked to representatives Louie Gohmert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Paul Gosar has been circulating material championing “a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” What are “Anglo-Saxon traditions”? For starters, they apparently involve demonizing immigrants. The Anglo-Saxon Club of America was founded in Richmond, VA by John Powell and Ernest Sevier Cox, both of whom were white supremacists. The purpose of the Anglo-Saxon club was to preserve Anglo-Saxon civilization in the United States and to participate in the “intelligent selection and exclusion of immigrants.” The club had various chapters on college campuses throughout Virginia, many of whom were in attendance for the meeting held in Richmond. The purpose of the meeting was to draft a constitution for the organization and to strategize expanding chapters throughout the United States.
What, exactly, it means to demonstrate “respect for this nation’s culture” is unclear, but we’re pretty sure that line is code for “Speak English,” which we’d bet money Greene has screamed at more than one Uber driver.
Naturally, there’s a lot of other talks about immigrants stealing jobs from Americans—racist lying conservatives like to tell their constituents—as well as the suggestion that all immigrants are criminals, despite the fact that native-born Americans are statistically more likely to commit crimes. Nevertheless, the group insists that “we cannot tarnish [our country’s greatness] by rewarding those who failed to follow our laws at the expense of those who have, which is why amnesty must be rejected in all forms. Additionally, we must abolish unnaturalized birthright citizenship, which actively encourages hostile interests to undermine the legitimacy of democratic self-governance by engaging in subversive ‘birth tourism’ and chain migration.” “Chain migration,” you may recall, is how former first lady Melania Trump’s parents were able to become U.S. citizens.
