Conservative columnist Benny Johnson—currently serving as Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at conservative youth organization Turning Point USA—generated controversy after he told female attendees at the organization's annual Young Women’s Leadership Summit to "keep having babies" to make "more Americans."
Johnson's comments were reported by Madeline Peltz, a reporter with Media Matters for America (MMA), the media watchdog group that has chronicled much of the propaganda coming out of the far-right these last few years.
\u201cHere\u2019s the TPUSA meme lord screaming at the high school and college age audience to have \u201cmore babies\u201d to make \u201cmore Americans\u201d\u201d— Madeline Peltz (@Madeline Peltz) 1654458253
Johnson urged young mostly White women to have as many children as possible.
“You can’t just stop at one. You can’t just have one bite. You gotta keep going."
“You gotta keep having babies. I say this to all you out there, more Americans! More babies!"
"Let’s go. Greatest country in the world. Let’s have more Americans.”
The tone of Johnson's speech was harshly criticized, with many pointing out his views are indicative of the current wave of Christian nationalist thought that advocates for White nationalism at all costs.
\u201cQuiverfull \ud83e\udd1d White Nationalism\n\nMeanwhile, young white men are taking their assault rifles to black neighborhoods and killing people, talking about "white birth rates."\n\n Voting republican is a vote for fascism.\u201d— Chris Boeskool (@Chris Boeskool) 1654534036
\u201cThat's Christian nationalism and exceptionalism for you...\u201d— Katie (@Katie) 1654538888
\u201c\u201cWe don\u2019t have the votes moving forward so we need more humans!\u201d\u201d— Ted Skroback (@Ted Skroback) 1654517827
\u201cTHIS. THIS is the goal: more white Christian Republican babies. #UnderHisEye\u201d— \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b Blue Dot on the West Coast of Florida (@\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b Blue Dot on the West Coast of Florida) 1654473334
\u201cI find this very disturbing and uncomfortable. Especially a bunch of men at a terrible women\u2019s conference telling them to have more babies\u201d— Good Faith Atheist (@Good Faith Atheist) 1654461067
\u201cThis is sick and scary!!\u201d— Dorothy \u2764\ufe0f\u262e\ufe0f\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc40\u2696\ufe0f\ud83c\udf77\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@Dorothy \u2764\ufe0f\u262e\ufe0f\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc40\u2696\ufe0f\ud83c\udf77\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1654462341
\u201cthink it should be noted that when he says "americans", he probably means "white kids"\n\nlike the racism isn't explicitly stated but you know it's implied\u201d— rach (@rach) 1654462485
\u201c@peltzmadeline @UROCKlive1 So basically a time machine back to 1952...\u201d— Madeline Peltz (@Madeline Peltz) 1654458253
\u201c@peltzmadeline I'm glad I don't know the name of this "meme lord" and cheerleader for the #ForcedBirth movement.\u201d— Madeline Peltz (@Madeline Peltz) 1654458253
Meanwhile, prominent Republicans like former President Donald Trump's ex-chief strategist Steve Bannon have pushed replacement theory, a conspiracy theory that states White European populations and their descendants are being demographically and culturally replaced with non-European peoples.
Bannon was criticized last year after he demanded people have more "Judeo-Christian" babies so these children could be "trained" in order to "save civilization."
Indeed, Bannon has been accused of having a "Nazi problem" in the past, and his comments bring to mind the Lebensborn program, the Nazi Party's plan to increase Germany's declining birthrate of Aryan children by people classified as "racially pure" and "healthy" based on Nazi racial hygiene and health ideology.
Last month, a White supremacist who subscribed to the "Great Replacement"–which has perhaps most notoriously pushed by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson–killed 10 Black people in a shooting at a Buffalo, New York supermarket.
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