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A lawmaker who mocked a school shooting victim, appeared to endorse political executions, and insisted she would have "won" if she had planned the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A lieutenant governor who claimed “some folks need killing” in an unhinged church rant.
An activist who said she’d like to "lynch" an election worker.
A podcaster who has platformed white nationalists and has criticized the Civil Rights Act.
Day 1 of the Republican National Convention on Monday put MAGA extremists in the spotlight. Anyone who believed conservative claims about this being an event focused on “unity” after the recent Trump rally shooting have been duped. Having Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene kick things off was a clear signal that this wasn’t going to be a kumbaya moment. And true to form, the Georgia Republican delivered a speech filled with falsities and far-right rhetoric, including anti-trans bigotry and anti-immigrant xenophobia falsely claiming immigrants have taken American-born workers' jobs.
Greene was followed by North Carolina Lt. Gov. and gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who’s well known for his racist, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ diatribes and who recently earned even more backlash after being recorded telling North Carolina churchgoers that “some folks need killing” during a Christian nationalist rant. Robinson, who’s established a reputation for extremist rhetoric, delivered a speech at the RNC on Monday that focused mostly on the economy and fawning over Trump.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tried a similar tactic. Kirk, whose organization has helped link far-right extremists to the Republican National Committee and Trump campaign, was a speaker as well. He's presented himself as the GOP’s youth whisperer and used his speech to sell young people on the idea that Trump would be better for their wallets than the Biden administration.
Kirk claimed “Democrats have given hundreds of billions of dollars to illegals and foreign nations” before falsely claiming young people were “richer than ever before” under Trump and that, as president, Trump “will do it again.”
Though they didn't make the speakers list, far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec and election-denying pillow-pusher Mike Lindell were given a prominent spot at the convention to host Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast. (Bannon has to miss the RNC this year because he's in prison.)
And one of the lesser-known extremists given a platform was Arizona delegate Shelby Busch, who cast her state's delegate votes for Trump on Monday night at the convention. Busch was the subject of a recent ReidOut Blog after she was recorded saying she’d lynch Maricopa County’s Republican recorder, Stephen Richer, if he were in the same room with her.
Needless to say, this RNC isn’t shaping up to be the unifying event Republicans have tried to convince voters and the media it would be. Predictably, it’s just a hotbed of MAGA extremism.