When news of the white supremacist terrorist attack in Buffalo, New York hit the airwaves and interwebs, most of the nation was struck by the atrocity. There was an outpouring of sympathy for the victims and their families and well-placed outrage at the individual alleged to have carried out the assault. Most viewed it as a tragedy.

Unfortunately, others viewed the attack as an opportunity.

Once it was revealed that the alleged shooter was an avowed white supremacist, progressive politicians and their comrades in the activist media couldn’t wait to exploit the dead victims to advance their agenda. They fell all over themselves to use the shooting to smear conservatives as vicious racists who somehow encouraged the attack.

Progressives blamed people like Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), claiming their rhetoric inspired the accused killer. They did this knowing that the gunman, in a manifesto published before the attack, explicitly expressed contempt for Fox News and conservatism. While they ignored this part of the document, they paid close attention to the shooter’s embrace of the Great Replacement Theory (GRT), which progressives are using to portray as racist those who support stricter immigration policies.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, author Greg Sargent accused Stefanik of supporting the theory. He referred to her statement that Democrats’ efforts to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants were designed to be a “permanent election insurrection.” This is a reference to the idea that leftists support open borders policies because immigrants from Central and South America are more likely to vote for Democrats. By allowing legal and illegal immigrants to enter the country, Democrats can eventually give them citizenship, which means they would have the right to vote in American elections. This is what progressives are trying to label as the Great Replacement Theory.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, who, like many of her compatriots, never saw a dead black body she didn’t wish to exploit, also accused conservatives of embracing the Great Replacement Theory. She tweeted:

Critical race theory literally explains why Great Replacement Theory exists, but now just days after a white supremacist massacre the same people who created an entire book-banning hysteria around CRT are justifying and promoting GRT. Absolutely shameless.

Absolutely shameful.

Critical race theory literally explains why Great Replacement Theory exists, but now just days after a white supremacist massacre the same people who created an entire book-banning hysteria around CRT are justifying and promoting GRT. Absolutely shameless.
Absolutely shameful.

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 16, 2022

The Lincoln Project, in an eternal effort to gain a semblance of relevancy, also pretended Stefanik espouses GRT. It tweeted:

Elise Stefanik has to double down on the Great Replacement Theory lies to prove herself to the racists now. They’re the ones who matter to her political future.

Elise Stefanik has to double down on the Great Replacement Theory lies to prove herself to the racists now. They're the ones who matter to her political future. https://t.co/SXVo9r1bAP

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 16, 2022

But there is a serious problem with these and other arguments the left is making about its political opposition: They are blatantly lying about what the Great Replacement Theory actually is. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) explained the origin of the theory, noting that it “has its roots in early 20^th century French nationalism.”

A writer named Renaud Camus, who popularized the term, believed that “native white Europeans are being replaced in their countries by non-white immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, and the end result will be the extinction of the white race” according to the ADL. The author focused mostly on the trend of Muslim immigration to European nations, but did not cast it as a Jewish conspiracy. This came later.

From the ADL:

The “great replacement” philosophy was quickly adopted and promoted by the white supremacist movement, as it fit into their conspiracy theory about the impending destruction of the white race, also know as “white genocide.” It is also a strong echo of the white supremacist rallying cry, “the 14 words:” “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

The organization continued: “Since many white supremacists, particularly those in the United States, blame Jews for non-white immigration to the U.S. the replacement theory is now associated with antisemitism.”

The alleged gunman’s manifesto clearly reveals that he is anti-semitic and believes GRT is a conspiracy coordinated by Jews.

Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro also pointed this out on Twitter:

If you want to be accurate about the Great Replacement Theory, it is a conspiracy theory about Jewish elites shipping in minorities to change the racial stock of a country. That is precisely what the Buffalo shooter says. And it is echoed by neither political party.

If you want to be accurate about the Great Replacement Theory, it is a conspiracy theory about Jewish elites shipping in minorities to change the racial stock of a country. That is precisely what the Buffalo shooter says. And it is echoed by neither political party.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 16, 2022

Shapiro also noted the dishonesty coming from the left about GRT:

The conflation of the Great Replacement Theory with skepticism about illegal immigration or concerns about the cultural assimilation of immigrants is a sham designed to lump in white supremacism with mainstream political concerns. And it’s a perfectly obvious sham.

The conflation of the Great Replacement Theory with skepticism about illegal immigration or concerns about the cultural assimilation of immigrants is a sham designed to lump in white supremacism with mainstream political concerns. And it's a perfectly obvious sham.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 16, 2022

There are obvious differences between what conservatives believe about immigration and GRT. Folks on the right believe Democrats wish to import more immigrants because it can give them an electoral advantage. As stated previously, it is believed by people on both sides that migrants from certain parts of the world would be more likely to vote Democrat – the data bears this out. Moreover, when they take up residency in states friendlier to legal and illegal immigrants, they increase the population, potentially giving that state more electoral votes in presidential elections.

The vast majority of mainstream conservatives aren’t casting this as a plot by the Jews to replace the white race. They simply believe this is a way for the left to gain advantages in elections – nothing more, nothing less. Whether one agrees or disagrees with this argument is irrelevant. One can believe this isn’t true while still acknowledging that it is not the same as GRT, no matter how badly people on the left wish it were.

To sum it all up, high-profile leftists are lying about GRT. They are trying to widen the definition of the term to include anyone who does not support open borders. Unfortunately, we can expect to see them use GRT as their new boogeyman for as long as they believe they can make it work. The right cannot afford to remain on the defense on this one – otherwise, progressives might fool gullible or uninformed people into believing the lie. This will be another area in which conservatives must fight smart.