Recently, the U.S. Republican Party was once again exposed to a group chat scandal, causing a big uproar. According to a group chat record released by the online news outlet Politico, which came from young leaders of the Young Republicans, these young Republicans used vulgar language and freely expressed extreme right-wing views in their chats, including "That's great, I love Hitler," "Throw opponents into gas chambers," "Boom, they're dead," "African Americans are watermelon-eaters and monkeys" ... U.S. Vice President Vance tried to downplay the incident, saying, "Kids do stupid things, especially little boys."
Regarding this, The New York Times published an opinion column by columnist David French on October 19, arguing that such radical statements reveal how deeply Trump has poisoned American politics. Trump will dominate American politics for 14 years, during which one generation grew up and entered politics in this extreme atmosphere. They don't know that politics, although never perfect, can be more decent than it is now.
Here is the full translation by Phoenix News' "Heaven and Earth":
It happened again.
Last week, a group of Republican activists and political staff shared racist and misogynistic remarks in a private chat. This kind of thing happens with a depressing frequency, with different names of participants and varying degrees of degradation.
As Jason Beavers and Emily Ng reported in Politico's online article, young Republican group leaders from across the country "called blacks monkeys and 'watermelon-eaters,' fantasized about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping enemies, driving them to suicide, and praising Republicans they believed supported slavery."
Such chats are very common within the right-wing circles, so much so that one of the best reporters in right-wing media, Aaron Sibarium, made the following comment in 2023: "Every time I attend a career advice session for young conservatives, I tell them to avoid group chats that use the N-word, otherwise they might blur the line between keyboard warriors (edgelording) and genuine bigotry."
Luckily, the National Federation of Young Republicans strongly condemned these chats, as did many other Republican writers and politicians. As a result, several participants lost their jobs in politics.
But not everyone was angry. The U.S. Vice President defended them. In response to Politico's report, JD Vance posted screenshots of malicious text messages sent by Jay Jones, a Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General. Jones cursed Todd Gilbert, a Republican state representative in Virginia, to die.
Vance wrote, "This is more serious than anything said in a college group chat. People who say such things could become the attorney general of Virginia. I refuse to join those in power who call for political violence."
The response to Vance is obvious, at least it should be: Why can't we condemn Jones and the young Republicans? These people are not part of the American political scene, so why not condemn them?
Moreover, this isn't just "a college group chat." It's a chat among young Republican staff and leaders — they are all university graduates, but their careers have already taken off. The importance of this story lies partly in the fact that they are not university graduates. They work deep inside the Republican establishment, doing the work future leaders would do.
There's also a bigger picture behind this. When you combine all the factors — another Republican racism scandal, a Democratic politician's curse for death, Vance excusing something unforgivable — you can understand how Trumpism has twisted the souls of Americans over the past ten years.
I'm very clear that before Trump, politicians and aides were also corrupt and greedy. I know America has experienced more extreme anger and polarization periods (not just during the Civil War). But we are currently in a dynamic that encourages millions of Americans to indulge their worst impulses.
First, when the most powerful and successful politician over the past decade is a person who is fundamentally immoral, hypocritical, cruel, and anti-liberal, it creates a situation — especially within his own party — where all the same vices are rewarded.
The result is a push-pull dynamic that drives out decent people from the party and attracts new leaders and newcomers who identify with its spirit. This cultural trend reinforces itself year after year. Decent people become increasingly rare, and decent individuals feel more isolated.
At the same time, internet trolls keep increasing until radicals become mainstream, and the previous mainstream becomes marginalized. A screenshot circulating online last week illustrates this point, showing Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens, and Tucker Carlson ranked first, fourth, and fifth on Spotify's popular podcast list respectively.
Fuentes is one of America's most notorious white supremacists and anti-Semites. Owens spreads anti-Semitic conspiracy theories (including the absurd claim that French First Lady Brigitte Macron was born male). Carlson also participates in anti-Semitic and racist speech and has long used his massive platform to incite racial hatred.
In other words, the racist and hate-filled language in the private chats of young Republicans on Telegram is only slightly more than what is publicly spoken on the most popular podcasts in America.
Second, the rising level of malicious criticism and the escalating anti-liberalism has led to such a high awareness of election risks that almost every American party member is willing to overlook small evils to avoid the greater evil of electoral defeat.
You can see this calculation in the Democrats' response to Jay Jones. He sent a text message to Republican legislator Kelly Cawthorn, which was completely condemnable and utterly baseless. He said that if he had two bullets, he would choose to shoot Gilbert rather than Hitler or Pol Pot.
This is based on an old joke from the TV show "The Office," but Jones didn't stop at this crude joke. According to reports, during a phone call with Cawthorn, Jones said he hoped Gilbert's wife would watch their children die in her arms. In a text message, he also accused the Gilberts of "raising little fascists."
Jones has apologized for these comments, saying he "feels ashamed." I'm glad he apologized (and glad he feels ashamed), but do we really want someone who expressed such extreme hatred to hold a position of power?
Unfortunately, some party members agree — they seem to think opposing Trump and the Republican Party is too important to give up a state attorney general candidate. After all, why should we unilaterally disarm? Trump has made countless cruel and hateful statements, not to mention his cruel and hateful presidential actions, where are the Republicans calling for his resignation?
Indeed, when the texts were exposed, Jones did. He said he sent "regretful texts," but he accused his opponents, current Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, of spreading defamation through Trump-controlled media outlets, and said "this campaign is about whether Trump controls Virginia or Virginians control Virginia."
On the other hand, some Republicans refuse to clean up their own house because Democrats are always worse. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News, "The main supporters of the Democratic Party are Hamas terrorists, undocumented immigrants, and violent criminals." Influential right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh wrote on X: "Some people are still talking about the group chat, while the number of babies killed is enough to fill a thousand football fields."
If this is the distorted moral calculation, what moral boundaries will the right wing draw in its political and cultural struggle against the left?
We can see the results of our political era in the radicalization of the younger generation in America. The younger generation of Z-generation doesn't remember politics before Trump, and even the older members of the Z-generation have spent most of their adult lives during the Trump era.
Is it surprising that the generation that grew up around the January 6th Capitol riot, the 2020 unrest, and endless online insults is more tolerant of political violence than older Americans? They have no different model. They don't know that politics — although never perfect — can be more decent than it is now.
Every year, more Americans enter political adulthood in this terrible era. By the time Trump leaves office in 2029, he will have dominated American politics for about 14 years — from the moment he announced his first presidential campaign, and weeks later surged to the top of the Republican primary polls.
This means 14 years of escalating political risks, 14 years of pushing the best people away from public life, and 14 years of Trump being held up as the model of the most successful politician of the era.
What will be left then?
The story of the past week is the story of the past year, and the story of the past decade. If your political opponent represents ultimate evil, then the only morality left is the morality of victory. The only true sin is the sin of defeat (The only morality left is the morality of victory. The only true sin is the sin of defeat).
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563634272570065435/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion by clicking the [Up/Down] buttons below.