Republicans Can't Even Get Condemning Nazis Right

The Republican Party would very much like you, the general public, to know that they are not, I repeat NOT, cool with actual Nazis—despite what the president of the United States would have you believe.

I know this because on Friday, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to approve a resolution condemning “the racist beliefs of Nazis, the KKK, white supremacists and other like-minded groups,” which it called “completely inconsistent with the Republican Party’s platform.”

“The view that the color of one’s skin determines or should determine one’s standing, rights, opportunities, or duties to others is not consistent with the philosophy of the Republican Party,” the resolution continued, adding, “the racist beliefs of the Nazis, the KKK, white supremacists and others are repulsive, evil, and have no fruitful place in the United States.”

Wow, seems great, right? Well, not so fast. Because, nice as the words may seem, this is still the same party that not only gave us an unrepentant bigot in the Oval Office, but spent decades pushing legislative agendas very much in line with the groups they now see fit to denounce. So it’s no surprise that despite the unanimity with which Friday’s resolution was passed, there was a fair bit of consternation and turbulence to get the party to this point.

“It’s amazing that we have been lured into this argument that we’re not racists. It’s absurd,” Colorado Republican Chairman Jeff Hays told the Associated Press. “Why would we feel compelled to do that?”

I’m just going to venture a guess here, Jeff, and say it miiiiight have something to do with the fact that your party’s standard bearer went on national television and praised the “very fine people” who marched alongside actual neo-Nazis in Charlottesville earlier this month.

Of course, according to its sponsor, this resolution wasn’t even about Trump’s recent statements anyway. “This has nothing to do with the president,” RNC committeeman Bill Palatucc explained to the Washington Post, adding that he allegedly began drafting the resolution one day after a white upremacist drove his car into a crowd of protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

“This is the RNC saying that racism and bigotry have no place in America,” Palatucc continued.

All good! Though that doesn’t explain why the RNC reportedly asked for the Trump administration’s blessing on the statement before voting it into effect.

That’s right, the Republican Party asked the White House for permission to say Nazis are bad.