US media is reporting on a new survey indicating that 2/3 of Republicans agree with a core belief of the so-called “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. As the Vice report describes, the theory holds that Democrats are bringing in immigrants to the US to replace more conservative white voters:
Two-thirds of Republicans surveyed agreed with a core belief of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that holds that Democrats are importing immigrants to replace “more conservative white voters,” according to a newly released survey. Of Republicans surveyed, 68 percent said they believed that the recent shift in U. S. demographics is “not a natural change but has been motivated by progressive and liberal leaders actively trying to leverage political power by replacing more conservative white voters.” That includes 38 percent who strongly agreed with the statement, with 30 percent of Republicans saying they somewhat agreed. The poll was conducted in April by Tulchin Research for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that monitors extremism and hate groups. The original “great replacement” conspiracy theory, and its mainstreamed Republican counterpart, have grown in popularity on the hard right in recent years. The original white supremacist version of the false theory posits that there’s a secret cabal of elites pushing to import immigrants to “replace” the native white populations of the U. S. and European countries. Many versions claim that Jews are behind this, with the goal of having immigrant populations outbreed native whites to create a population they can better control. The GOP version swaps out Jews for Democrats, and claims that liberals and big business are colluding to import huge numbers of immigrants for cheap labor and to swamp Republicans at the polls and control elections so they never lose again.
Read the rest here.
The Vice report goes on to note that Fox News star Tucker Carlson has played a key role in helping the conspiracy theory achieve mainstream status.
US media also reported last month that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also a proponent of the Great Replacement. According to a Vox report:
On May 16, just days after the deadly mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, motivated by conspiratorial fears of white Westerners’ “Great Replacement” by minorities, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán endorsed the shooter’s ideology in a nationally televised speech.“Part of the picture of the decade of war facing us will be recurring waves of suicidal policy in the Western world. One such suicide attempt that I see is the great European population replacement program, which seeks to replace the missing European Christian children with migrants, with adults arriving from other civilizations,” Orbán said.Orbán is a close observer of American politics; the speech literally contains an exhortation to “make Hungary great again.” It is implausible, as the Guardian notes, that he was unaware of the concern in Washington over “Great Replacement” ideology — a conspiracy theory that posits a shadowy plan to “replace” the white Western population with immigrants and the children of nonwhites.
Read the rest here.
The Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) reported last month on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a US Republican event held this year in Budapest. As we noted, the event was headlined by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. We also report that what was described as a “notorious Hungarian racist” was a featured speaker on the second day of the CPAC conference.
Tucker Carlson has figured prominently in a new and developing alliance between US conservatives and European nationalists, a potential means for Russia to exert covert influence in Europe and the US, using Hungary as a platform. GIOR recently published a report on this alliance titled “The National Conservatism Alliance: An Opportunity for Russian Influence?” The GIOR report details the role that Viktor Orban and the Hungarian government have been playing in the National Conservatism Alliance.
The full report can be downloaded here.
In April, the Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) reported on Carlson’s continuing support and defense of Hungary and Viktor Orban. At the same time, we reported on the reelection of Viktor Orban as Hungarian Prime Minister, described as “the Russian President’s closest friend inside the EU and NATO.”