随着民主党加大了对“替代理论”在纽约布法罗周六发生大规模枪击事件后，国会山的一些共和党人回避拒绝他们自己党内一些成员支持的种族主义观点。

在周二下午的新闻发布会上，参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)被反复问及他对“替代理论”的看法，这是一种阴谋论，认为民主党人试图用无证移民和有色人种取代美国白人，以赢得选举。

他一再避免公开谴责它。

德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂图片社

参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔在闭幕后的新闻发布会上发言..

有人问麦康奈尔，作为党的领导人，他是否有责任大声反对这一理论，当局表示，这一理论被一名18岁的白人男子采用，他被指控在当地食品市场杀害了10名黑人。

他的回应是谴责嫌疑人的行为，称他为“精神错乱的年轻人”，但没有提到“替代理论”。

当记者再次问及共和党是否有义务谴责这一理论时，麦康奈尔谴责了种族主义。

麦康奈尔说:“看，任何形式的种族主义在美国都是令人憎恶的，应该受到每个人的反对，包括共和党人、民主党人和所有美国人。”。

然后他被问到，他是否认为民主党人正在寻求对无证移民的大赦，目的是影响和改变选民。他的回应是批评拜登政府在南部边境的政策。

麦康奈尔周二发表评论时，参议院共和党会议主持了俄亥俄州共和党参议员候选人J.D .万斯，他在多个场合使用了类似的语言。

在本月早些时候俄亥俄州的初选中，万斯获得了共和党提名，前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在晚些时候表示支持，特朗普支持多名共和党人，他们呼应了这一理论的主要观点，如果不是其赤裸裸的种族主义基础的话。

3月17日在福克斯新闻频道露面时，据新闻监测网站Mediaite报道万斯告诉福克斯新闻频道主持人塔克·卡尔森，民主党人有意制造无证移民的激增。

“你必须问问自己，谁在从中受益，谁在从中致富?首先，商会式的共和党人和民主党人喜欢廉价劳动力，他们喜欢这些移民正在取代美国工人的事实，还有民主党政客，他们已经决定，除非他们引入大量新选民来取代已经存在的选民，否则他们无法在2022年赢得连任。

万斯的竞选团队拒绝对美国广播公司新闻发表评论，他在离开参议院共和党午餐会时没有回答记者的一连串问题。

麦康奈尔不是唯一一位避免在周二谴责替代理论的共和党领导人。

众议院共和党会议主席埃利斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)众议员近日因其竞选广告呼应替代理论而面临新的批评。她的竞选团队发表了一份关于袭击的声明，她的高级顾问也发表了一份声明，称对广告的关注是“对左派、他们从未击败的盟友和媒体中的谄媚速记员来说令人恶心的低水平。”

当记者追问时，斯特凡尼克没有直接回应，称她不想让水牛城枪击案政治化。

“我们的国家对布法罗可怕的生命损失感到心碎和悲伤。这是纯粹的邪恶行为，罪犯应该受到法律最大限度的起诉，”斯特凡尼克说。“现在不是将这场悲剧政治化的时候。我们作为一个国家一起哀悼。”

共和党人不愿拒绝替代理论，因为美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周二前往布法罗，并在一次演讲中呼吁美国人“拒绝谎言”，谴责那些“为了权力、政治利益和利益而传播谎言的人”。

稍后，在对记者讲话时，拜登拒绝指名道姓，但当被问及他是否认为共和党成员和有线电视新闻专家如福克斯新闻频道主持人塔克·卡尔森应该为暴力事件受到谴责时，他直言不讳。

拜登说:“我认为任何附和替换的人都不应该为这一特定罪行受到指责，但这没有任何目的，没有任何目的，除了利润和/或政治利益。”“而且是错误的。这简直是错误的，”

民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)走得更远，点名批评了福克斯新闻频道和像卡尔森这样的专家。

舒默周二向媒体大亨鲁珀特·默多克(Rupert Murdoch)及其儿子以及福克斯新闻频道的领导人发出直接呼吁，敦促他们“立即停止在你们的网络上传播所有虚假的白人民族主义者和极右翼阴谋论。”

CES信函5.17.22经过ABC新闻政治在Scribd上

舒默提到了匹兹堡和埃尔帕索带有种族动机的大屠杀，他写道，他的水牛城选民“每次去超市买一条面包或一加仑牛奶时，都将被迫重温这一悲惨事件”——要求福克斯考虑危险言论的真正影响……”

卡尔森否认讨论他声称的政治问题是种族歧视。

福克斯的一名发言人提到了卡尔森本周早些时候在他的节目中就水牛城枪击事件发表的评论。她说，卡尔森称枪手是“种族主义者”和“不道德的”，并“呼吁不要强调种族紧张关系，努力实现“不分种族的精英统治”，补充说“所有人都有平等的道德价值，不管他们看起来怎么样”，并引用了马丁·路德·金的话

她没有直接回复舒默的信。

枪击事件暴露了共和党内部的分歧。虽然麦康奈尔和斯特凡尼克没有谴责“替代理论”，但其他人已经直言不讳地谴责它。

参议员罗伊·布朗特。他毫不犹豫地断然拒绝了这一理论。

“哦，这是...荒谬的理论。我完全拒绝任何合理的讨论。”

即将退休的布朗特来自一个有两名共和党政客公开支持种族主义理论的州。

周一，共和党众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)在一条推文中直接呼吁她的同事退出，她的共和党会议主席角色被斯特凡尼克取代。

“众议院共和党领导层促成了白人民族主义、白人至上和反犹太主义，”切尼在推特上说。“历史告诉我们，以言辞开始的事情结果会更糟。@共和党领导人必须放弃和拒绝这些观点和持有这些观点的人。”

斯蒂芬妮克的高级顾问亚历克斯·德格拉斯(Alex DeGrasse)在一份声明中说:“尽管有令人作呕的虚假报道，但国会议员斯蒂芬妮克从未倡导过任何种族主义立场或发表过种族主义言论。”“枪击是邪恶的行为，罪犯应该受到法律的最大限度的起诉，”他补充说。

McConnell, when asked, fails to denounce racist 'replacement theory'

As Democrats have ratcheted up condemnation of"replacement theory"in the wake of Saturday's mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, some Republicans on Capitol Hill have shied away from rejecting the racist idea that some members of their own party have espoused.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was asked repeatedly about his views of "replacement theory," a conspiracy theory that holds that Democrats are trying to replace white Americans with undocumented immigrants and people of color in order to win elections.

He repeatedly avoided denouncing it outright.

McConnell was asked whether he, as the party leader, had a responsibility to speak out against the theory, which authorities say was adopted by the 18-year-old white man accused of killing 10 Black people at a local food market.

He responded by denouncing the actions of the suspect, calling him a "deranged young man," but making no mention of "replacement theory."

Pressed again by reporters on whether the Republican Party is obligated to denounce the theory, McConnell condemned racism generally.

"Look -- racism of any sort is abhorrent in America and ought to be stood up to by everybody, both Republicans, Democrats, all Americans," McConnell said.

He then was asked whether he believed that Democrats are seeking amnesty for undocumented immigrants for the purpose of influencing and changing the electorate. He responded by criticizing the Biden administration's policy at the southern border.

McConnell's comments Tuesday came as the Senate GOP conference hosted Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, who has used language similar to the theory on multiple occasions​​.

Vance secured the GOP nomination during Ohio's primary race earlier this month after a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who has supported multiple Republicans who echo the theory's main points, if not its outright racist basis.

In a March 17 appearance on Fox News,according to the news monitoring site Mediaite, Vance told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Democrats are intentionally creating a surge in undocumented immigration.

"You have to ask yourself who is benefiting from this and who is getting rich from it? First of all Chamber of Commerce-style Republicans and Democrats who love the cheap labor who love the fact that these immigrants are displacing America's workers but also Democrat politicians who have decided that they can't win reelection in 2022 unless they bring in a large number of new voters to replace the voters that are already here," he said.

Vance's campaign declined to comment to ABC News and he did not answer a barrage of reporter questions as he left the Senate GOP luncheon.

McConnell was not the only Republican leader to avoid calls to denounce replacement theory Tuesday.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, House GOP Conference Chair, has faced renewed criticism in recent days for her campaign ads echoing replacement theory. Her campaign released a statement about the attack, and another from her senior adviser calling the focus on the ads a "disgusting low for the left, their Never Trump allies and the sycophant stenographers in the media."

When pressed by reporters, Stefanik didn't respond directly, saying she didn't want to make the Buffalo shooting political.

"Our nation is heartbroken and sad and of the horrific loss of life in Buffalo. This was an act of pure evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Stefanik said. "It is not the time to politicize this tragedy. We mourn together as a nation."

Republican reticence to reject replacement theory comes as President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo on Tuesday and in a speech called on Americans, to "reject the lie" and condemn those "who spread the lie for power, for political gain and for profit."

Later, speaking to reporters, Biden declined to name names but was blunt when asked if he thinks members of the Republican Party, and cable news pundits like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, deserve blame for violence.

"I believe anybody who echoes a replacement is to blame not for this particular crime, but it's for no purpose, no purpose, except profit and or political benefit," Biden said. "And it's wrong. It's just simply wrong,"

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has gone further, calling out Fox News and pundits like Carlson by name.

Schumer penned a direct appeal to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, his son, and the heads of Fox News Tuesday urging them to "to immediately cease all dissemination of false white nationalist, far right conspiracy theories on your network."

CES Letter 5.17.22byABC News Politicson Scribd

Invoking massacres with racial motivations in Pittsburgh and El Paso, Schumer wrote about his Buffalo constituents, saying that they'll "be forced to relive this tragic event every single time they visit the supermarket for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk" —- asking that Fox take into consideration the very real impacts of the dangerous rhetoric…"

Carlson has denied that discussing what he claims is a political matter is racist.

A spokesperson for Fox pointed to a comment Carlson made on his show earlier this week regarding the Buffalo shooting. Carlson, she said, called the shooter "racist" and "immoral" and "called for a de-emphasis of racial tensions and working toward a “colorblind meritocracy” adding “all people have equal moral value, no matter what they look like” and quoted Martin Luther King, Jr."

She did not directly address Schumer's letter.

The shooting has revealed a divide in the Republican ranks. While McConnell and Stefanik have fallen short of denouncing "replacement theory," others have been outspoken on condemning it.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., had no qualms about rejecting the theory outright.

"Oh, it's ... an outrageous theory. I totally reject it as any reasonable discussion to be had."

Blunt, who is retiring, is from a state where two GOP politicians have openly espoused the racist theory.

On Monday, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, whose role as GOP conference chair was usurped by Stefanik, called her colleagues out directly in a tweet.

"The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism," Cheney tweeted. "History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them."

"Despite sickening and false reporting, Congresswoman Stefanik has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement," Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser to Stefanik, said in a statement. "The shooting was an act of evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he added.