More than two dozen Republicans sitting on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee refused to join their Democratic counterparts in signing a letter denouncing white supremacy and racist conspiracy theories. In a letter to chairman Kentucky Rep. James Comer, ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin urged all Republicans to join committee Democrats in signing a draft pledge denouncing “white nationalism and white supremacy,” as well the use of related conspiracy theories, including the “Great Replacement” theory during committee hearings. A spokesperson for the committee Republicans said the letter was an attempt to “distract” from the Biden administration’s record on border crossings. This is not the first time that Republicans have been urged to denounce white supremacy. In 2022, when Democrats were in control of the House, a resolution was brought forward in the wake of a racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, to condemn “in strongest terms” the great replacement theory, a far-right claim that white Americans are purposely being replaced as the dominant race in the country by minorities and immigrants for political gain. Raskin said that during previous meetings discussing immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican lawmakers expressed “dangerous and conspiratorial” rhetoric which echoed the “racist and nativist tropes” peddled by white supremacists and far-right extremists.
via newsweek: Full List of 26 Republicans Who Refused To Denounce White Supremacy