Analysis: How the right embraced the racist ‘replacement’ theory

The right spread the racist ‘great replacement theory’ even after a series of tragedies in which the shooter espoused it. Analysis by Aaron Blake Racists have long espoused the theory — as the Buffalo suspect apparently did — to suggest that Whites are being usurped. Meanwhile, in recent years, Republicans and conservative pundits have increasingly cast Democrats as favoring immigration in the hopes of diluting the GOP’s political power. We’ve written about the GOP’s descent into replacement theory before, but it’s worth laying out the timeline. The idea was mostly relegated to the fringes when Donald Trump first ran for president, but he did nod to it. And then it took off last year despite tragedies involving the theory in 2017, 2018 and twice in 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/16/gop-replacement-theory-timeline/