Yet another racist mass murderer has referenced “replacement theory” or the “great replacement” in his twisted manifesto. The eighteen-year-old in the horrific Buffalo Tops shooting repurposed much of the Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter’s manifesto and appears to be equally enthralled with the white supremacist conspiracy theory.
But wait, the conspiracy doesn’t just live in the dank basements of racist shooters—it’s also aired regularly by Tucker Carlson on Fox News. From there, the ridiculous “theory” has made its way to other prominent Republican politicians and pundits—and lo and behold, to the Republican base.
This would just be another silly conspiracy to rile up the Republicans’ lowest common denominator, except this particular lie can have immediate deadly consequences. (Though, to be fair, the COVID “hoax” lies spread by the far right have also had very deadly consequences.)