The Republicans used to have a racism problem. Now they just have racism.
Oh, sure, the party of the Southern Strategy was always racist AF. But for a minute there they were at least pretending to think that open bigotry was not their central operating principal. But thanks to Donald Trump, they’re done with that now. The dog whistles are now just whistles, and the Great Replacement Theory is openly discussed in primetime every night of the week.
And right on time, the New York Times has a piece out today on the coming takeover of the Miami-Dade Republican Party by literal Proud Boys. Because of course the next step in the devolution of the GOP is being colonized by a band of fascist thugs.
The article describes a simmering conflict between the old-guard of country club Gippers and the Proud Boys, who heeded Steve Bannon’s call to put their heads down and work locally after multiple members of the group, including its leader Enrique Tarrio, were arrested for their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riot.
And the problem for the GOP writ large is that they don’t even acknowledge that it’s a problem that violent nationalists have parasitized their party.