Trump’s "anti-" rhetoric answer to great replacement theory

The Fulcrum’s Executive Director Hugo Balta, whose social media platform exhibits highly factual and credibility ratings from the Media Bias/Fact Check, recently wrote in an op-ed, “This is the time to advance on DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] initiatives,” as opposed to President Trump and Elon Musk’s anti-DEI movement.

Let’s explore Mr. Balta’s contention from a research-based and reference-laden perspective to see if his position is true or false.

First, Mr. Trump issued “a sweeping executive order directing federal agencies to terminate DEI programs,” reported Reuters on January 24. Next, on January 27, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that DEI endeavors at the Pentagon, with about 27,000 employees, would also be eliminated.

The Reuters article noted if companies comply with Trump’s anti-DEI executive order, they are “exposing themselves to more discrimination lawsuits by workers.” Companies that abandon DEI policies are specifically violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color, and national origin.

Alan Blinder, former vice chair of the Federal Reserve and economics professor at Princeton University, scolded Trump for his “attacks on DEI and affirmative action” in his January 28 Wall Street Journal op-ed. Every company and educational institution that depends on federal funding or holds government contracts is in jeopardy with Trump’s edict.

On January 27, the Wall Street Journal countered Trump’s anti-DEI and anti-affirmative action order by stating, in a rather blunt manner, that “discrimination in hiring isn’t allowed.” Mr. Trump has, for many years, also veered into the anti-woke world, which means he discounts the value of social justice, equal rights, and equal opportunity.

Jessica Guynn, a journalist for USA Today, made three observations about the new administration in her January 26 column. First, Trump’s anti-DEI initiative “began in earnest during Trump’s first term and grew after he left office.” Secondly, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, “has filed dozens of legal actions against woke corporations.” Finally, Miller praises Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s lawyer to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, for “suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers.”

A November 4, 2024 article in Bloomberg Law speculates some Republicans and Trump’s anti-DEI, anti-woke, and anti-affirmative action stances are a direct reaction to the “Great Replacement Theory”? This white nationalist far-right conspiracy theory preaches that “racial minorities are displacing the traditional white American population and taking control of the nation. Versions of the theory have become commonplace in the Republican Party of the United States and have become a major issue of political debate,” according to a New York Times piece published on May 15, 2022.

A May 2022 poll by Yahoo! News and YouGov found that 61 percent of people who voted for Trump in 2020 agree with the core tenet of the great replacement theory that “a group of people in this country are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants and people of color who share their political views.”

Regarding immigration, Alan Blinder wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Reducing illegal immigration has been a perplexing problem for decades, has bipartisan support and began happening in the Biden administration.” In Trump’s first term, he expelled 2,011,280 undocumented migrants, as compared to Biden deporting 4,677,460 undocumented migrants as of July 2024, according to Newsweek.

Related to the great replacement theory, an official with the U.S. Air Force confirmed to USA Today on January 25—the end of Donald Trump’s first week of office—that: “The U.S. Air Force will no longer teach its recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen, the more than 15,000 Black pilots (first Black aviators), mechanics, and cooks in the segregated Army of World War II.”

Trump’s edict is viewed as an attempt to erase the history of active Black fighters from 1940 to 1952, who flew in over 15,000 sorties and destroyed more than 100 German aircraft. Trump’s action is reminiscent of George Orwell’s “1984” dystopian novel whereby Big Brother eliminated history he didn’t like.

It gets worse about members of the great replacement theory cult. Joseph Uscinski and Casey Klofstad, political science professors at the University of Miami, found in their research that “those who believed in these conspiracy theories were also more likely to believe in other conspiracy theories and to be supportive of violence as a means to political ends.” January 6, 2021 anyone?

Research is replete that Hugo Balta’s assertion that now is the time to advance—versus retreat —DEI endeavors, is spot on. The same advancement should occur for social justice, equal rights, equal opportunity, and employment discrimination based upon race, sex, religion, color, and national origin.

Request your congressional delegates to uphold the Civil Rights Act that we’ve embraced since 1964 and to reject the anti-DEI, anti-woke, and anti-affirmative action endeavors that may be in play to solve the great replacement conspiracy theory.

Steve Corbin is a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.