Trump Aides Aim To Build GOP Opposition To Afghan Refugees

[babylonsister]

09/15/2021 08:33 am ET
Trump Aides Aim To Build GOP Opposition To Afghan Refugees
The former president has insisted that the refugees are a threat. Trump adviser Stephen Miller said his focus is on convincing members of Congress.


WASHINGTON (AP) — As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban arrive in the U.S., a handful of former Trump administration officials are working to turn Republicans against them.

The former officials are writing position papers, appearing on conservative television outlets and meeting privately with GOP lawmakers — all in an effort to turn the collapse of Afghanistan into another opportunity to push a hard-line immigration agenda.

“It is a collaboration based on mutual conviction,” said Stephen Miller, the architect of President Donald Trump’s most conservative immigration policies and among those engaged on the issue. “My emphasis has been in talking to members of Congress to build support for opposing the Biden administration’s overall refugee plans.”

The approach isn’t embraced by all Republican leaders, with some calling it mean-spirited and at odds with Christian teachings that are important to the white evangelicals who play a critical role in the party’s base. The strategy relies on tactics that were commonplace during Trump’s tenure and that turned off many voters, including racist tropes, fear-mongering and false allegations.

And the hard-liners pay little heed to the human reality unfolding in Afghanistan, where those who worked with Americans during the war are desperate to flee for fear they could be killed by the new Taliban regime.

But the Republicans pushing the issue are betting they can open a new front in the culture wars they have been fighting since President Joe Biden’s election by combining the anti-immigrant sentiment that helped fuel Trump’s political rise with widespread dissatisfaction with the Afghan withdrawal. That, they hope, could keep GOP voters motivated heading into next year’s midterms, when control of Congress is at stake.

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-aides-building-afganistan-refugee-opposition_n_6141e1fbe4b0640100acbc8f

[Midnight Writer]

1. They love the Afghani people. They just don't want them living in their neighborhood.

[Biophilic]

9. Nah, they don't love the Afghani people, they loved using them to make more money.

Once that opportunity was gone they had no love or use for them. Throw aways, just like they did to the Kurds.

[spanone]

2. tfg's aides may be the least relevant people on the face of the earth.

[blm]

3. Depraved

[lagomorph777]

4. Of course they are. Stephen "Goebbels" Miller is a Nazi.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. This severely undercuts one of the most effective (false) Republican talking points against Biden

Namely, that he abandoned all of those brave Afghan translators (and their families) who fought shoulder to shoulder with U.S. Troops against the Taliban. The talking point is cynically unfair of course. Trump's administration sabotaged the process used to get Visas to the U.S. for our Afghan allies, and planned to rush the U'S. out of Afghanistan 4 months earlier than Biden extended our presence there for. Meanwhile Biden's Administration sped up the paper work process for visas before the sudden total collapse of the Afghan government knocked the floor out from under us. But still the thought of American allies being left to their fate with the Taliban justifiably pains many. Trump's allies are throwing away their claim for sympathy toward the plight of Afghan translators if they organize to demonize their refugee status in America. Yes that plays to the xenophobic right, but it negates one of their most effective talking points with American centrists and the veterans of Middle East combat. It will also re frame the mainstream media narrative in ways unfavorable to Republicans, just when the media had been predisposed to beat up on Biden over Afghanistan.

[C_U_L8R]

6. Because that's what racist bullies do

[kysrsoze]

7. Dump aides - still shuckin' and jivin' for the FORMER guy. what a sad existence.

IMO, they're just helping make his stupid ass more irrelevant and giving voters another reason to dump the GQP.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. And there it is. Idiot wanted to sign the contract with the Taliban and didn't have any

intentions to evacuate the Afghanistan allies. Which just goes to show, that if the evacuation had taken place under Trump, things would have been worse. Much worse.

[Champp]

10. Republicans betray everything honorable, including their own Holy Book

Republicans are the infidel Judas Cult of these Latter Daze.

Betrayers (R).