There’s a war going on inside the Texas GOP, The result might portend what is ahead for the national party

There's a war going on inside the Texas GOP, The result might portend what is ahead for the national party
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The Texas Republican Party is at war with itself, having spent more than 20 years controlling Democrats and all three arms of state government.

Conservatives in Texas’ mainstream have set up stark battle lines with a far-right faction that has grown in power within the party in recent years. These divisions reflect the ideological differences that prevented Republicans in Washington from choosing a new U.S. House speaker for weeks after they removed Rep. Kevin McCarthy from office.

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An extensive network of ultra-conservative activist groups funded by three West Texas billionaires has been a contributing factor in the long-running Texas GOP civil war, which has been fueled by the desire to move the deeply conservative state even more to the right.

The Texas Tribune revealed last month that some of the prominent far-right network’s leaders had hours-long meetings with white supremacist provocateur Nick Fuentes, who has advocated for a “holy war” against Jews and lauded Adolf Hitler. last led to a severe breakdown in intraparty relations.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a devout conservative who has been attacked by the far-right, demanded this week that the state GOP sever any links with organizations and members who have supported white supremacist leaders or ideas.

Phelan stated in an interview that Republicans need to eradicate “the rot” that he claims has been brewing for years within their own party, or else they risk giving in to radicals. He feels that this battle ought to serve as a wake-up call for the GOP across the country.

According to Phelan, “This is a turning point for the state of Texas.” “And a better part of the country goes as Texas goes.”

Political science professor Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University, which is located close to Dallas, believes that the open conflict within the Texas GOP is partially a reflection of Republican politics in general in the years since the ascent of former President Donald Trump to power elevated more radical elements of the party.

According to Jillson, “the Republicans in Texas have an opportunity to look at the dysfunction in the U.S. House and say, ‘Oh, sh–, that is the direction we’re headed,’ and then they should blink twice and consider if that is truly their desired course of action.”

In recent decades, the Republican Party nationwide has shifted further to the right. However, in Texas, this shift has been amplified by the financial contributions of three West Texas billionaires: Tim Dunn and the brothers Farris and Dan Wilks. These individuals have articulated the belief that biblical values should direct Texas state government. In an unwavering effort to force mainstream Texas Republicans to take more extreme stances, they have invested more than $100 million over the previous 20 years into a network of activist groups and dark money organizations, including the political action committees Defend Texas Liberty and Empower Texans.

It appears that the megadonors, who did not reply to mails seeking comment, had achieved their goals. Texas Republicans, led by Phelan, have recently enacted some of the most conservative state laws in the nation, essentially outlawing the majority of abortions a year before the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons without a permit, among other measures.

However, the Wilks and Dunn network has persisted in criticizing Phelan and other Republicans for their unwillingness to endorse a bill that would have provided public funds for parents to send their kids to private schools, as well as for the Texas House’s vote this year to remove Attorney General Ken Paxton, a supporter of Donald Trump who helped the former president in his attempt to rig the 2020 election, from office on bribery and other offenses.

According to University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus, “They keep moving the line for what it means to be conservative.” “And you will receive the spear if you are not on the right side of that line.”

Tensions within the party increased last month when Republicans in the Texas Senate voted to acquit Paxton of the impeachment allegations, caving in to pressure from organizations backed by Wilks and Dunn. Following that, Defend Texas Liberty’s leader, Jonathan Stickland, threatened to use the PAC’s funds to defeat Phelan and all other Republicans who had backed Paxton’s impeachment.

Stickland tweeted to Phelan on September 16th, saying, “You and your band of RINOs are now on notice.” RINO stands for Republican In Name Only. “You’re going to pay for this whole scam. We won’t give up.

Three weeks later, Stickland and other Wilks-Dunn network executives were seen in photos taken by The Texas Tribune meeting with the Nazi sympathizer Fuentes in Stickland’s North Texas offices. This provided ammunition for Phelan and other more centrist Republicans to retaliate. Although he has denied meeting with Fuentes, Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi, who is among those demanding Phelan’s resignation, was pictured at the same spot.

Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor sponsored by Defend Texas Liberty, claimed to have spoken with Dunn after hearing about the meeting, which he described as “a serious blunder.” Dunn also gave Patrick an assurance that the PAC would not have any “future contact” with Fuentes.

However, a closer examination of recorded remarks and social media posts made by representatives of the Defend Texas Liberty movement reveals a more thorough adoption of white supremacist concepts and language. Fuentes was seen being driven to the meeting with Stickland by Chris Russo, the president of Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant activist group supported by Defend Texas Liberty.

Requests to speak with Russo were not answered by Texans for Strong Borders. According to two of Russo’s acquaintances quoted in the Tribune on Wednesday, Russo has criticized Black people, immigrants, feminists, the LGBTQ community, and Fuentes on social media while praising Fuentes through anonymous identities.

Texans for Strong Borders has made no secret of its opinions. Posts endorsing fundamental white nationalist beliefs abound on the anti-immigration group’s public social media feeds. One such conspiracy theory is the racist “great replacement” theory, which asserts that mass immigration is replacing white people in America as part of a grand scheme by powerful elites. Extremism specialists caution that the idea has sparked acts of violence against people of color, such as the 2019 Walmart shooting in El Paso, Texas, which left 22 people dead, and the Buffalo, New York, grocery store shooting that left 10 people dead.

Ella Maulding, an online influencer who has openly hailed Fuentes as “the greatest civil rights leader in history,” rejected the notion that America is a melting pot in a video that was uploaded this summer to Texans for Strong Borders’ TikTok account. She claimed that the country was founded as “a sovereign Christian nation” intended to serve “a people of distinct culture, history, and identity.”

A few Texas Republican Party leaders have publicly endorsed Texans for Strong Borders. The Texas GOP chairman, Rinaldi, and the president of Texans for Strong Borders, Russo, co-signed a letter at the beginning of this month urging Governor Greg Abbott to halt the migration flow at the southern border. In the letter, Rinaldi and Russo urged Abbott to back a contentious bill that opponents fear could result in racial profiling and the separation of parents and children in mixed-status families. The bill would grant state and local police previously unheard-of authority to jail or deport undocumented immigrants.

Rinaldi did not reply when asked to be interviewed. A Texas GOP spokesperson, James Wesolek, refuted in an email that the party had any direct ties to Texans for Strong Borders. He also included a link to a social media post that Rinaldi had made criticizing Fuentes and demanding Phelan’s resignation.

According to political analyst Jillson, such disclosures, together with Trump’s election, are shedding light on the long-standing but covert relationship between the far-right element of the Republican Party and white supremacists. And that seems to be demanding an accounting for, he said.

The lieutenant governor, Patrick, made moves this week to distance himself from radical elements within his party. He declared that he would “root out this cancer” of antisemitism in the GOP and said that his campaign would buy $3 million worth of Israel bonds, matching the amount that Defend Texas Liberty donated to him this year.

However, Phelan stated that much more is required to make it abundantly evident that the Republican Party will not stand with radicals, both nationally and in Texas.

He demanded on Monday that Republicans refund whatever funds they had received from Defend Texas Liberty, that Rinaldi step down as party chairman, and that the PAC and its affiliate organizations, such as Texans for Strong Borders, be disbanded.

Finally, they were discovered, Phelan said. “I think a lot of Republicans throughout Texas are finally opening their eyes because they were finally exposed for who they are.”

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