GOP’s 'bizarre and dangerous' rhetoric masks these 'quieter, more dangerous plans': analysis

22 October 2024

Liberal and progressive media outlets are full of articles attacking former President Donald Trump, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and other far-right MAGA Republicans for offensive remarks. But a recent analysis warns Americans to not let themselves get distracted.

Trump's "the enemy within" and Vance's "childless cat ladies" comments have received a lot of scathing analysis on MSNBC and Salon, and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' attack on Vice President Kamala Harris for not having biological children was slammed as hateful and mean-spirited by everyone from MSNBC host Joe Scarborough (a Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman) to Joy Behar on "The View."

But in an article published on October 22, The New Republic's Kate Aronoff argues that the most "dangerous" thing about Republicans isn't the "outlandish things" they say — it's what they are quietly planning behind the scenes.

"From JD Vance falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating pets to Trump railing against domestic 'enemies,'" Aronoff explains, "Republicans' more unhinged talking points have gotten a lot of airtime this election season. That's understandable: that rhetoric is dangerous in its own right, fueling very real threats to the people Republicans are targeting."

Aronoff goes on to say, however, that it is a "mistake to see the candidates who say the most outlandish things as the ones who pose the biggest threat."

The journalist emphasizes, "Arguably more dangerous are the kind of well-considered plans being put forward by the likes of the American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC), a lobby group whose internal strategy documents were recently leaked by the climate nonprofit Fieldnotes…. There's nothing especially outlandish about a trade association advocating for policies that will pad their members' bottom lines; that's the reason these groups exist. Unsurprisingly, as AXPC's leaked policy roadmap shows, those policies are easier to come by if Republicans control more parts of the federal government."

Aronoff, however, isn't saying that offensive comments by Republicans should be ignored — only that it's important to look behind the scenes as well.

"Republicans say a lot of bizarre and dangerous things these days that deserve attention," Aronoff writes. "But at the same time, fixating on whatever wild thing MAGA World says about wind turbines creating bird graveyards might well be helping to pull attention away from the GOP and its donors' quieter, more dangerous plans for how to govern — and their similarly quiet efforts to build bipartisan consensus for implementing them."

Read Kate Aronoff's full article for The New Republic at this link.

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