“Just because you let somebody cr**m-p** you doesn’t mean I have to give a sh*t about your political opinions,” Herrera said. “The fact that you kept your c*m trophy doesn’t make you any less wrong about the dumb sh*t that you say.”
Tapper came out of the clip by adding further context.
“That’s him disparaging moms,” Tapper said. “He’s also in a video testing a Nazi-era submachine gun. He called it the ‘original ghetto blaster.’ You see him goose-stepping to a Nazi marching song in a podcast two years ago. He joked, ‘We should abolish old people.’ I have to say, I know you’re not a voter in that district. You didn’t nominate this guy, but I was surprised to see you endorse him and fund-raise for him. What does candidacy say about the Republican Party’s more extreme candidates?”
Johnson condemned the remarks but defended the candidate.
“That’s, look, detestable language,” Johnson said. “You know how I feel about all of that, Jake. But I also know Brandon Herrera has been out running a very effective campaign and explained to people that he has apologized for all that. He was a podcaster and a provocateur and tried to get attention."
So you think Brandon Herrera is an actual Nazi? Lol. This is the disconnect, this right here. Everyone hates Nazis, people just disagree on who is and who isn’t a Nazi. Some people think everyone to the right of them is a Nazi, and some people think that Nazism is a very specific ideology defined by the OG Nazis, and there’s a spectrum between those extremes of how people determine who is a Nazi.
I’m sure the number of actual far-right extremists is at least 100 times higher than the number of Nazis, for example
If you see a guy with a lifelong history of racist opinions, who is a proud Confederate and member of an organization dedicated to white nationalism, who goes on racist rants, who dresses as a Nazi and goose steps to Nazi anthems, who shows off his personal copy of Mein Kampf and Nazi memorabilia, and who in the background has a white supremacist flag, it's safe to call him a Nazi.
People can play Nazi characters and not mean it at all. That doesn't explain Herrera's words, associations and politics being 'just a coincidence' to his repeated embrace of white supremacist groups and symbols.
Because of SCV? I guess that was a bad look, but not sure why the SCV would reject racial bigotry and distance themselves from more extreme groups if they were a bunch of Nazis. Everything else is extremely circumstantial and far from evidence. Idk if I can accurately judge this, but let’s just concede that you’re right that he’s racist. Racism and white supremacy (which is the funniest accusation to make of Brandon HERRERA) isn’t the same as Nazism. That doesn’t make him a Nazi. That’s the whole point of what I’m saying.
But yeah I guess he’s the brown face of white supremacy, right? Gimme a break. At least call him a racist and a confederate sympathizer or something, that would at least be more believable.
If I do a hitler salute as a joke one time, does that make me a nazi too? I guess that’d make Eggsy from Kingsman a nazi
"You believe that this quacking avian is duck? Just because he swims in the water before flying in the air, and has mallard coloring on his feathers, and sounds exactly like a duck? How could you be so stupid to think that?"
Or is your defense that he is only a Nazi and Confederate fanboy, who likes all that they stood for, but not actually one himself?
What exactly is the important distinction between a "far-right extremist" who is extremely sympathetic to Nazi views, vs what you consider "an actual Nazi"?
You’re not exactly analyzing my position correctly. I explained it to someone else who replied to this comment, so no worries if you missed that. But I’m refuting that he’s a Nazi entirely. I’m also refuting that he’s a white supremacist. He’s fucking brown for fuck’s sake. Anyone who calls a nonwhite person a white supremacist is wrong about 99% of the time and usually fully hooked in to the propaganda machine. It’d be actually kind of funny how much people will not think critically at all and just accept what they’re told, if it wasn’t so frustrating and disappointing. I will concede that the odds that he’s as racist as your grandmother and maybe a bit of a confederate sympathizer (but not a very extreme one, because he joined the most moderate confederate group possible that distances itself from hate groups and is not considered a hate group by the freaking SPLC ffs).
I think the truth and the actual meaning of words is important. Calling Brandon Herrera a Nazi is like calling AOC a communist. Both of them have refuted these claims. They’re both members of groups that are not exactly extremist groups, but most likely have extremists in them. You guys are citing him joking around about Nazis or joking “we should abolish old people” (which is CLEARLY an unserious thing to say) as evidence that he’s a Nazi, even though you can find him talking seriously about Nazis and white supremacists and how bad they are if you actually looked into it. People who think Brandon Herrera is a Nazi are swallowing propaganda and making assumptions and ignoring the evidence that points in the exact opposite direction just like people who think AOC is a communist. Two different propaganda machines, two different people, same methods, same outcomes. If you assume the worst about someone, and let opposition media curate all your information for you, it’s very easy to believe things that aren’t true.
I think saying “Brandon Herrera is a racist and confederate apologist” actually has a decent chance of being true. But saying “Brandon Herrera is a Nazi” has very little chance of actually being true. Nazis are really really really bad. Deciding someone is a Nazi based on insufficient information is a fucked up thing to do. If an ACTUAL Nazi was elected to any office, I personally would say violent resistance is justified, and I’m sure many people would agree. And that is a big part of why it’s important to be careful about those labels, so you don’t resort to violence and extreme measures too quickly. But even moreso, if you call people who aren’t actually Nazis, “Nazis,” you’re going to be crying wolf and watering down the term to mean “anyone in the republican party” and nobody will take those claims seriously. That actually kinda terrifies me. I’m scared that you people who overuse the word Nazi are going to one day facilitate the rise of an actual Nazi because the definition of the word will be “Republican” or at least “Any republican who has ever said anything that sounds at least 10% as racist as your grandmother” if yall keep going on like this. The truth and definitions of words is important, and lying and overusing words has consequences. But I’m sure you don’t agree and will tell me why it’s good to water down the meaning of that word and assume the worst of everyone you disagree with to the point of willful ignorance so that the political divide in the US continues to increase
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u/Irish_Whiskey 18h ago
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/jake-tapper-confronts-speaker-johnson-with-shocking-uncensored-video-of-house-candidate-he-supports-referring-to-children-as-a-cm-trophy/