Throughout the 2020 campaign, former President Donald Trump warned that Democrats were hatching a scheme to "OVERRUN" the suburbs with "Low Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and, of course, 'Friendly Protesters'."
The talking point was largely considered a racist dogwhistle attempting to terrify white voters.
Now, one of Trump's most vocal supporters in the House of Representatives—Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama—is once again amplifying that hysteria, this time to discredit the Build Back Better infrastructure legislation still awaiting passage in Congress.
Watch below.
\u2018MAGA Mo\u2019 Brooks says the \u2018Build Back Better\u2019 plan is a socialist plot by Democrats to destroy the suburbs by moving \u201cinner city\u201d people out into the \u201cnice neighborhoods\u201d by building more affordable housing.pic.twitter.com/yevTSugU4r— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1637083963
Anchor for the far-right disinformation outlet Newsmax—Grant Stinchfield—claimed that Democrats were on a "quest to transform the suburbs and inner cities."
Without missing a beat, Brooks launched into his diatribe:
"Well this is a continuation of the socialist march on America, keeping in mind that socialism is amoral. It is evil. It is dictatorial. It is elimination of our liberty and freedom, and this is a part of the Democrat scheme to take over America using every single weapon that they have at their disposal.... They are trying to destroy these nice neighborhoods people have worked their whole lives to be able to live in by putting up high-rises for public housing, with all the adverse effects that come with that public housing."
The Build Back Better Act increases taxes on corporations and the rich to fund a $1.75 trillion investment over 10 years in public housing, early education, and the fight against the climate crisis.
People sensed the sentiment behind Brooks' words—and it wasn't pretty.
Psssst: When they say "inner city", they're not talking about the white tech millionaires in the downtown lofts.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Melissa Jo Peltier (@Melissa Jo Peltier) 1637084081
You can\u2019t get any more racist then .@RepMoBrooks with this comment. The @GOP only knows how to try and scare people, never help them.pic.twitter.com/Kzi7jdcSkL— Katherine (@Katherine) 1637084738
I live in a Suburb. \n\nI must apologize to my neighbors for destroying the neighborhood with our presence.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Social Conserv. \ud83d\udcda (@Social Conserv. \ud83d\udcda) 1637089128
Mo Brooks is a racist liar, and he\u2019s blowing his dog whistle to tell people the \u201cevil socialists\u201d are going to ruin their \u201cnice\u201d white neighborhoods and their \u201cproperty values are going to go down.\u201d Geez, haven\u2019t heard that before. https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Screaming Harold (@Screaming Harold) 1637089325
When you\u2019re a racist and you say the quiet part out loud!https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Liberal Lisa in Oklahoma (@Liberal Lisa in Oklahoma) 1637088014
Wow. No sense hiding the racism any longer. Just let it hang out. https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— ExGOP Rachel (@ExGOP Rachel) 1637092021
People countered his comments with important corrections.
nah man that's the "affirmatively furthering" provisions of the fair housing act and that's already lawhttps://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Will Stancil (@Will Stancil) 1637084398
It's utterly amazing that a Duke political science major like @RepMoBrooks has absolutely no understanding of what "socialism" is. I guess an alternative is that he does but it willing to exploit the fact that many of his constituents don't.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Steve Metz (@Steve Metz) 1637092400
The likely next senator from Alabama, who apparently wants to bring back redlining.\n\nI guess we could explain what "redlining" is and why it's bad, but that would be OMG CRITICAL RACE THEORY!https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1460662126708674560\u00a0\u2026— Paul Waldman (@Paul Waldman) 1637086232
Brooks, who continues to claim accessible housing would destroy neighborhoods, addressed Trump supporters while wearing body armor on January 6, encouraging them to start "taking names and kicking ass." Soon after, they attempted to destroy the United States Capitol.
Brooks is currently vying for one of Alabama's seats in the U.S. Senate.
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