While rebuking anti-immigrant Rep. Steve King (R-IA), RNC Chairman Reince Priebus admitted that his party’s platform is “horrific..and racist.”
Priebus once again found himself rebuking Rep. King for more racist comments about Mexican immigrants, when he said, “Using the word ‘self-deportation’ — it’s a horrific comment to make. I don’t think it has anything to do with our party. When someone makes those comments, obviously, it’s racist.”
However, the Republicans made self deportation a part of their party platform last year. The Republican Party’s immigration plank contained this sentence, “We will create humane procedures to encourage illegal aliens to return home voluntarily, while enforcing the law against those who overstay their visas.” In other words, self-deportation.
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Not only is Preibus calling his own party’s platform racist, but he is also calling the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney a racist. During a January 2012 Republican primary debate, Romney answered a question about getting rid of illegal immigrants by saying, “Well, the answer is self-deportation, which is people decide that they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here because they don’t have legal documentation to allow them to work here. (Audience laughs) And so we’re not going to round people up. […] Well, yes, we’d have a card that indicates who’s here legally. And if people are not able to have a card, and have that through an e-verify system to determine that they are here legally, then they’re going to find they can’t find work here. And if people don’t get work here, they’re going to self-deport to a place they can get work.”
Reince’s Pieces Priebus’ job is help Republicans win elections, but the guy just called his own party’s platform racist. Does he think that nobody remembers what happened last year? Priebus just can’t announce that everything Republicans have said, and are still saying about immigrants isn’t what the party really believes.
His problem is that either the Republican Party was lying to their own voters in 2012, or they are lying to the rest of the country right now.
The Republicans have been using the same kind of anti-immigrant racism and rhetoric for nearly a decade, so it is a safe bet that he is lying to the American people now.
Rep. Steve King and his blazing anti-immigrant racism are where the rank and file of the Republican Party are at. It is where they have been since George W. Bush tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and it is where they will continue to be as long as their own media keeps beating the racist anti-immigrant drum every day.
Priebus isn’t fooling anyone, but he did manage to confirm a truth that most of the country has long known. Racism is a fundamental part of the Republican Party’s platform.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
