Marjorie Taylor Greene launches ‘America First’ caucus pushing for ‘Anglo-Saxon political tradition’

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Punchbowl News received a flyer promoting the new caucus, which calls for “common respect for unique Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and promotes a series of conspiracy theories about electoral integrity. The leaflet also outlined a nativist argument that warned that “mass immigration” threatens “America’s long-term existential future as a unique country with a unique culture and identity.”

A Greene spokesperson, Nick Dyer, complained about the leakage of the first draft of the flyer, but confirmed to CNN in a statement that there were plans to form the group, which will be “announced to the public very soon.”

Florida GOP Representative Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation over allegations of sex trafficking and prostitution, tweeted Friday, “I’m proud to join @mtgreenee in the #AmericaFirst Caucus. We will end wars, stop illegal immigration and promote trade that is fair to American workers. This is just one hit of the America Last crowd in Big Media, Big Tech & Big Government. “

Congressional elections are voluntary groups usually made up of lawmakers seeking to advance certain policy agendas. While the groups operate outside of the formal legislative structure of Congress, many have found that success influences debate and reinforces their shared policy prescriptions.

CNN has contacted Republican representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona, Louie Gohmert of Texas, and Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama, who Punchbowl News reported were involved in the caucus.

A spokesman for Moore told CNN in a statement, “Congressman Moore wholeheartedly supports President Trump’s America First agenda and policies that prioritize hard-working Americans. He will not agree to a caucus until he has had the opportunity to defend their platform, which he has not had the opportunity to do with the America First Caucus and therefore has not joined. ”

Lawmakers are known to be on the far right fringes of the GOP, and their rhetoric is often designed to make headlines. The rhetoric surrounding protecting American identity and “unique Anglo-Saxon political traditions” ties in with a toxic argument with a racist legacy that immigrants “replace” Americans born in the United States.

Tucker Carlson laughs at critics as he questions the comments of the
Pennsylvania Republican Representative Scott Perry raised a similar argument at a subcommittee hearing earlier this week to investigate why a disproportionate number of migrants from Central American countries cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

“To many Americans, what appears to be happening or what they believe is happening right now seems to them to be that we are replacing American-born Americans to permanently transform the political landscape of this nation,” Perry said.

Similar comments were also made recently by Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, underscoring how certain Republican lawmakers and right-wing media personalities echo and thus legitimize potentially legitimizing arguments made by white nationalists and nativists for years.
The House voted in February to remove Greene, a Georgia freshman, from her committee assignments after reports of her comments surfaced showing that she was encouraging political violence, suggesting that the school shooting in Parkland, Florida was a “ false flag. ” operation and a conspiratorial claim that a space laser controlled by Jewish funders started a California wildfire in 2018.

She has tried to make a name for herself as an outsider and mob and routinely uses parliamentary procedures to slow things down on the floor of the House, much to the dismay of her colleagues.

'An existential threat': the Republicans calling on their party to reject QAnon's conspiracy theories
But the tactic helped her gain support from the far right, and just this week her campaign announced that she’d raised $ 3.2 million in the first three months in office – an astonishing sum for a freshman member.

Following news of the new caucus Wednesday, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger from Illinois: “Just when I was hoping to be away from crazy for a long weekend, I see this.”

“Completely disgusting,” he said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, tweeted Friday afternoon, “The Republican Party is Lincoln’s party and the one with more opportunities for all Americans – no nativist dog whistles.”

GOP Conference Chairman Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, responded in a tweet to coverage of Greene’s new caucus.

“Republicans believe in equal opportunity, freedom and justice for all. We teach our children the values ​​of tolerance, decency and moral courage,” she wrote. “Racism, nativism and anti-Semitism are bad. History shows that we all have a duty to confront and reject such malicious hatred.”

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