MSNBC guest says GOP should be rebranded as the 'domestic terrorism party'
Author and counterterrorism expert Erroll Southers slammed the GOP for allegedly contributing to white supremacist ideology during a segment of MSNBC's 'Deadline: White House.'
In the aftermath of Saturday's tragic shooting in Buffalo, New York, one MSNBC guest blamed the Republican Party for the tragedy, calling them a "domestic terrorism party" on Wednesday.
Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old White male shooter, killed ten people and injured three others with the majority of the victims being Black. The shooter left a manifesto, detailing his hatred for people of color and his worry about White people being replaced. The tragedy raised conversations about racial tensions along with a sequence of finger pointing from pundits on both sides.
Internet organizations such as MSNBC.com report from the Republican National Convention media area. (Photo by Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images)
MSNBC guest Erroll Southers doubled down on rhetoric blaming the Republican Party for violence against the Black community, equating them with white supremacists and calling for the party to be labeled as the "domestic terrorism party."
"We should label them the domestic terrorist party. If we look at the last decade of data… between 2010 and 2019, white supremacists were responsible for 78% of the murders in America," Southers, who is former FBI agent and author, said during a Tuesday segment of MSNBC's ‘Deadline: White House.’
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He added that, in 2018, the U.S. saw "50 extremist murders" and all were committed by "right-wing extremists."
Payton Gendron appears during his arraignment in Buffalo City Court, Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. Gendron was arraigned on first-degree murder charges and ordered detained without bail. Police officials said the 18-year-old was wearing body armor and military-style clothing when he pulled up and opened fire at people at a Tops Friendly Market. (Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News via AP)
Critics slammed Southers' murder statistic claim on social media, including author and podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey who argued that his statement claiming that 78% of U.S. murders were committed by white supremacists hyperbolic.
"Dude. White *people* aren't even responsible for 78% of murders," Stuckey wrote in a Tuesday tweet.
Southers went on to urge President Biden to put his national intelligence director on the case and identify white supremacy as a "national security threat," "vet our police departments" and "start to educate local, state, federal law enforcement on what this threat really is" in addition to educating communities on how "vulnerable" they are.
Southers' comments coincide with others who are blaming Saturday's shooting on Republican lawmakers and right-wing commentators like Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and former President Donald Trump.
Southers went further than criticizing Republicans, however, and drew comparison between the modern "domestic terrorism" of rampant white supremacy to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, arguing that America is "facing the same threat" as it did over 20 years ago and urged people to rally behind a common cause as they did then.
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"My guidance is that we have to treat it as the terrorist threat that it is. You know, we rallied on 9/11. There was no question about what the country was going to do," he said. "We are facing the same threat, and we need to go one step further."
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