GOP Congressmen Meet With Alt-Right Troll Who Claims There’s a Black ‘Violence Gene’

Chuck Johnson, who purports the racist theory that there is a violence gene in Black people, met with Republican Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland and Phil Roe of Tennessee on Thursday.


A Huffington Post reporter tweeted a picture of the congressmen walking meeting with Johnson who was once banned from Twitter after raising money to “take out” a Black Lives Matter activist :

Johnson only told NBC News in a series of text messages, “I don’t discuss my work with people who don’t understand it.”

He has supported the racist theory of the MAO-A gene, which was disavowed by science, as well as other racist and anti-Semitic theories:

“We don’t want to talk about inbreeding and how it leads to mental illness in Muslim populations. It’s too taboo,” Johnson wrote on Dec. 4, 2015.

“We also don’t talk about how they are genetically different in their propensity for violence or rape even though the empirical evidence is overwhelming.”

Considering both congressmen had just voted to condemn racist remarks about white supremacy made by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), one day prior, this may seem counterintuitive. But the congressmen released statements to clarify:

Roe released a statement saying Johnson was representing a company that advocates for “increasing the number of sequenced genomes for research.”

“White supremacist and anti-Semitic views are abhorrent and have no place in our society,” said Roe, after saying he wouldn’t have taken the meeting if he knew Johnson’s history.

Harris also said he was “unaware of [Johnson’s] previous associationsOf course I disavow and condemn white supremacy and anti-Semitism.”

This isn’t Johnson’s first meeting with Congress, however.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) invited Johnson to the 2018 State of the Union address, and Johnson once arranged a meeting between then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

So shall we add two more congressmen to the list with King, who is now being stripped of committee assignment duties

The House voted on Tuesday on a resolution of disapproval of white nationalism and white supremacy, but that resolution didn’t support the stronger reprimand of censure.

Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who supported the censure resolution said, “We’re sick of that rhetoric, we’re sick of it coming from the White House, we’re sick of it coming from Congressman King. It’s time to put our foot down.”

“Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racism it is because of our silence when things like this are said,” wrote Black Republican Senator Tim Scott in a recent op-ed.

But Scott neglected to call out the president directly.

It should be government policy to fire any politician that directly or indirectly supports hate against Americans, or hate against humanity.

Reader Question: If condemning white supremacy doesn’t involve abstaining from it, can it at least mean you lose your job to govern a diverse nation

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