A Taxonomy of Right-Wing Dog Whistles – The Atlantic
The first time I witnessed the birth of a right-wing talking point, I was sitting in a crowded ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, in National Harbor, Maryland. This was the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and I was listening to Sebastian Gorka deliver remarks that fell somewhere on the spectrum from venting to fomenting.
There he was in his three-piece suit, voice booming: They want to take your pickup truck. They want to rebuild your home. They want to take away your hamburgers. As I jotted down the line about the hamburgers, a sudden sense of unreality came over me.
Democrats want to take my hamburgers? It seemed too preposterous a threat to alarm even the most willing rube. Knowing the origin of the line was perhaps revealing, but made it no less ridiculous. Republicans had taken left-wing concerns about the environmental effects of factory farming and animal slaughter and contorted those worries, casting the Democrats as not just an anti-hamburger party, but a coalition of hamburger thieveshamburglars, if you will.
Thats the secret of these GOP talking points: Theyre sticky enough to be memorable, theyre designed to elicit an emotional response, they typically target an ideologically symbolic bogeyman, and they contain a sliver of truth that can be blown up into something completely unrecognizable.
Franklin Foer: The Republican Party used to fight communism
As the American political machinery grinds into action ahead of the midterms and (gulp) the next presidential election, Ive started tracking the talking points that Republicans are testing, refining, and blasting out to the world in TV spots and campaign emails. Once you start hearing these phrases, youll notice them everywhere for what they arecoded in-group language designed to stir very specific reactions.
Vladimir Putin, misunderstood guy
The thought leader of the Republican Party, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, floated this idea in a fascinating, bizarre soliloquy. It may be worth asking yourself, he said: Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?
Adding to the chorus of pro-Putin rhetoric, in a radio interview broadcast February 22, former President Donald Trump called Putins actions in Ukraine genius, and Putin himself savvy. He mused about copying Putins peacekeeping move in Ukraine by sending the military to our southern border.
Im old enough to remember when Republicans were against power-hungry autocrats rolling up on other countries.
Crack pipes for racial equity
Have you heard the one about federally funded crack pipes yet? This talking point paints Democrats as hopelessly woke and also as wasting your tax dollars on a group of people whom many Republicans resent: poor addicts. As far as I can tell, it took off in The Washington Free Beacon with a February 7 story titled Biden Admin to Fund Crack Pipe Distribution to Advance Racial Equity. I know youre going to be shocked (shocked, I say!) to hear this, but this characterization is a blatant misrepresentation of what this program is and what it does. The federal grant initiative, which provides tools to minimize risks associated with drug use, is actually focused on harm reduction, a concept that has been around for decades. You can argue against harm reduction, which is based on the premise that the government should not necessarily expect abstinence from addicts in trying to help keep them safe. As a sober person, I am extremely uncomfortable with this approach. But no one in this administration or in the world is using crack pipes to advance racial equity. (According to The Washington Post, both the White House and [the Department of Health and Human Services] denied the funds would be spent on the pipes.)
However, despite being both debunked and patently absurd, the talking point worked so well on the senior senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, that she threatened to hold up a crucial government-funding bill because of the nonexistent crack pipes. The congressional candidate Blake Harbin, running in Georgias Sixth District, is already fundraising on the line There wont be a single cent of government money spent on crack pipes. To which a reasonable response might be: Well, huh. What a refreshing pledge to halt something that, to be clear, is not happening.
Democrats let Putin attack Ukraine. This never would have happened under Trump.
This ones big this week, for obvious reasons: the idea that if Trump were still president, Putin wouldnt have dared try to seize Ukraine. Of course, theres no way to know what Putin would have done in this alternate realityand theres only the flimsiest logic to support the notion that because an invasion didnt happen up until this moment, it didnt happen earlier because Trump was president. In my mind, a more likely scenario is that if Trump were still president, he would have just let Putin take Ukraine. After all, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin for his strengtheven doing so as the invasion was about to unfold: I mean, hes taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. Id say thats pretty smart, Trump told donors at Mar-a-Lago on February 23.
David A. Graham: Putins useful idiots
Masking is child abuse
Early in the pandemicokay, fine, throughout the pandemic the public-health messaging about masking was confusing at best and chaotic at worst. But it became clear that masks were a worthwhile tool to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and that reasoning was good enough for plenty of responsible citizens to wear them. Republicans have decided that this global tragedy is a political opportunity, and theyve zeroed in on mask requirements for children as a form of abuse.
Because this is a talking point, it needs to be maximally blown up for dramatic effect, hence the abuse part. In April, Carlson told his audience, As for forcing children to wear masks outside, that should be illegal. Your response when you see children wearing masks while they play should be no different to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart. Call the police. Contact Child Protective Services. Keep calling until someone arrives. Masking is still relatively popular, depending on where you live, but my guess is that Republicans are banking on the idea that masking wont continue to be popular in a few months. One can see this narrative taking shape in this J. D. Vance tweet: Republicans should pass a law giving every parent in the country the ability to sue school administrators for the developmental issues and emotional distress caused by the mask mandates forced on their children.
Let parents decide
This one is an outgrowth of the child-masking debate. The idea is to tap into parental rage about school closures, and use it to target the teaching of the role of race in American history. Some pundits claim its why Glenn Youngkin won the gubernatorial election in Virginia last year, helping fuel a surge around the country of exaggerations and lies about critical race theory. But according to recent polling, 57 percent of Virginia voters oppose banning the teaching of critical race theory, something that Youngkin has made a central plank of his governorship. Not clear yet is whether this polling will keep Youngkin from going full Ron DeSantis.
Read: Red parent, blue parent
The walls are closing in on Hillary Clinton
John Durham, the special counsel appointed by former Attorney General Bill Barr, may have disavowed the right-wing-media claims that a motion he recently filed showed the Clinton campaign had a mole in Trump Tower and the White House. (The reaction included this Laura Ingraham tweet: Finally the walls are closing in on the Clinton campaign. Get the popcorn ready.) But unsurprisingly, most conservative pundits havent. In a more recent filing, Durham wrote, If third parties or members of the media have overstated, understated or otherwise misinterpreted facts contained in the governments motion, that does not in any way undermine the valid reasons for the governments inclusion of this information.
My guess is that the Hillary Clinton is a mastermind talking point will be trotted out in the midterms, a full six years after she ran for president. This ones almost too easy. Hating the Clintons is catnip for conservatives, and its a formula that has worked for them for decades.
The New York Post has published numerous versions of the same HRC-Russia talking point. One version includes this baffling line: Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign paid an internet company to surveil servers at Trump Tower and the White House in order to link Donald Trump to Russia, a bombshell new legal filing alleges. Another version of this talking point was the completely unprovable assertion that the Durham report proves Hillary Clintonnot Trumpwas Putins puppet. Especially as tensions between Russia and the West escalate, you can expect to see much more variation on the theme that Clintonnot Trumphad some kind of nefarious relationship with Putin.
In a world filled with information, theres only so much any of us can absorb, and the Republicans have figured this out. Theres an argument that these talking points are too silly to be believed, but thats just it: They dont need to be completely believed to work. They just need to muddy the waters enough so that voters put up their hands in dismay and start to wonder if maybe theres something to this Clinton-and-Russia thing.
Also, Hillarys running
Republicans remain obsessed with Clinton, and obsessed with the possibility of her running for president. No matter what she says to the contrary, this ones not going anywhere.
Fauci lied, people died
Last spring, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the Fire Fauci Act, which aims to fire the National Institutes of Healths Anthony Fauci for his evolving and contradictory advice on COVID-19. (Lets just hope she doesnt sic the gazpacho police on him.) In 2020, a Cornell study analyzed 38 million articles about the pandemic and came to the conclusion that Trump was likely the single largest driver of COVID falsehoods, but sure, lets censure Fauci, free-speech protections be damned.
Watch out! Socialism!
Socialism, socialism, socialism. You get the idea. Its bad. Its coming. Not clear when or how or why, but be afraid.
Democrats want to defund the police
It doesnt matter how many times Joe Biden says, No, I dont support defunding the police, nor does it matter if the Democrat running for office is a former police chief, like U.S. Senate candidate and current Representative Val Demings of Florida. Republicans think they can win by painting Democrats as soft on crime, as theyve been doing for years.
Democrats want open borders
The southern border is a particular Republican obsession, but the notion that Democrats want people freely streaming into the United States is ludicrous. (Biden has in fact retained a lot of Trumps immigration policies.) The Washington Posts Catherine Rampell summed it up best when she wrote, The disconnect between GOP claims about open borders and Bidens actually-quite-Trumpy border policies, is enormous.
The real villain? Justin Trudeau.
The far-right celebrity Candace Owens offered perhaps the most galaxy-brained take on Russias war against Ukraine when she tweeted, STOP talking about Russia. Send American troops to Canada to deal with the tyrannical reign of Justin Trudeau Castro. I didnt have war with Canada' on my dystopian-hellscape bingo card, but I suppose 2022 is still just getting started.
The rest is here:
A Taxonomy of Right-Wing Dog Whistles - The Atlantic
- House panel votes to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton over possible links to Ghislaine Maxwell - New York Post - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Tulsi Gabbard fuels Hillary Clinton tranquilizer rumor: Whats behind the viral claim? - The Times of India - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Was on 'Daily Tranquilizers' for Mood Swings During Obama Admin, White House Claims - Latin Times - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Emails claimed Hillary Clinton 'used heavy tranquilizers' in office, says Tulsi Gabbard - The Mirror US - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Did Vladimir Putin prefer Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump in 2016? Declassified intelligence report makes - The Times of India - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Was Hillary Clinton on tranquilisers during the 2016 campaign? What is the truth? - Firstpost - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- House subcommittee voted in favor of subpoenaing Bill and Hillary Clinton over Ghislaine Maxwell connection - Fox News - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Tulsi Gabbard Teams Up with Russian Spies to Wiretap and Unmask Hillary Clinton - emptywheel - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- VOTE: Should the FBI reopen its investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server? - WPDE - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- House subcommittee voted in favor of subpoenaing Bill and Hillary Clinton over Ghislaine Maxwell connection - Straight Arrow News - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Republicans vote to haul in Bill and Hillary Clinton for questioning on Epstein files - Daily Mail - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- House subcommittee voted in favor of subpoenaing Bill and Hillary Clinton over Ghislaine Maxwell connection - FOX 8 TV - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Tranquilisers, heart disease, COPD: Obama-era report drops bombshells about Hillary Clinton's health woe - The Times of India - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- Distant second: Epstein controversy overshadows story on bombshell Hillary Clinton revelations - Sky News Australia - July 24th, 2025 [July 24th, 2025]
- VOTE: Should the FBI reopen its investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server? - The National Desk - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Declassified files reveal where FBI failed while investigating Hillary Clinton email case - WION - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Bombshell report finds the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's email server was sloppy and incomplete - MSN - July 22nd, 2025 [July 22nd, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton in white pantsuit for Trump inauguration - - July 20th, 2025 [July 20th, 2025]
- John Laverty: Hillary Clinton should relinquish her role at Queens, challenge Kneecap on stage over Gaza... and see how far that gets her - Belfast... - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Finding Your Roots Team Reveals Pope Leo XIV Is Related to Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton & More - keysnews.com - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Activists conviction for satirical Hillary Clinton memes tossed by appeals court: Hallelujah! - New York Post - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Fact Check: Inspecting claim Hillary Clinton supplied Iran with uranium for nuclear program - Yahoo - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Twitter Trolls Conspiracy Conviction Over 2016 Hillary Clinton Election Memes Overturned - The Maine Wire - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Court throws out Biden-era conviction of Hillary Clinton troll - Washington Times - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Inspecting claim Hillary Clinton supplied Iran with uranium for nuclear program - Snopes.com - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Man Sentenced to Prison for Hillary Clinton Meme Has Conviction Overturned in Court of Appeals - Mediaite - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton to receive Sutherland Leadership Award - RTE.ie - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton to receive prestigious award in Dublin - BreakingNews.ie - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Agent99 Wins Media Account For The Hatchery To Drive Women UNLIMITED Leadership Summit, Headlined By Hillary Clinton - bandt.com.au - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Noticeably Tweaked Trump Animatronic Debuts at Disney's Hall of Presidents After Hillary Clinton Controversy - People.com - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- A 2022 Book Claimed That Anna Wintour Could Have Left 'Vogue' to Become An Ambassador if Hillary Clinton Won the Election - Rolling Stone - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- The Internet Just Found Out Pope Leo XIV Is Fam With Madonna and Hillary Clinton and Minds Are Blown - we are mit - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- Morning Joe stands up for Trump on Iran strikes and says even Hillary Clinton would have bombed nuke sites - The Independent - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- MSNBCs Joe Scarborough Defends Trump Over Strikes on Iran: Hillary Clinton Would Have Done the Same ... - Mediaite - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- MSNBCs Joe Scarborough defends Trumps bombs on Iran: Hillary Clinton, any president would have felt compelled to take that strike - Yahoo - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- White House Hangs Bold New Trump Painting Where Hillary Clinton's Portrait Was and It Has a Hidden Detail - People.com - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- White House Hangs Bold New Trump Painting Where Hillary Clinton's Portrait Was and It Has a Hidden Detail - Yahoo - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Sex addict Anthony Weiner on jail, Trump and Hillary Clinton - The Times - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump Just Hung A Painting Of Himself Where Hillary Clinton's Portrait Used To Be And It's Exactly What You'd Expect - Yahoo - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- People shocked after seeing what Trump has replaced picture of Hillary Clinton at the White House with - LADbible - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Just Hit On One Of Donald Trump's Biggest Insecurities With Three Words - BuzzFeed - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Who is Huma Abedin? This former aide to Hillary Clinton is now married to Alex Soros - financialexpress.com - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- George Soros Son Alex Marries Ex-Hillary Clinton Aide Huma Abedin; See Guest List Of Liberal Royalty Wedding - Mashable India - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Ex-Hillary Clinton aide set to tie the knot with George Soros' son in lavish Hamptons wedding...as Democrat A list invitees revealed - Daily Mail - June 16th, 2025 [June 16th, 2025]
- Organizers hopeful their famous classmate Hillary Clinton will attend the Maine South and East high schools 60 year reunion - Chicago Tribune - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- Bill Clinton tells 'The View' he "wanted" to become first gentleman when Hillary Clinton ran for president: "The only political job I... - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- Tharoor in Washington recalls Hillary Clinton," How can you breed vipers in your backyard and expect them to bite only your neighbours? - WION - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- 'Bilawal Bhutto's mother was assassinated': Shashi Tharoor hits out at Pakistan in US; invokes Hillary Clinton's 'vipers' rebuke - MSN - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- LIZ PEEK: Conservative women scare Democrats like Hillary Clinton for good reason - Fox News - May 28th, 2025 [May 28th, 2025]
- I spent 8 hours in the cold to see Warren Buffett speak. I witnessed his retirement bombshell and met Tim Cook and Hillary Clinton. - Business... - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton 'ages backwards' as ex-First Lady unrecognizable on glitzy NYC date with Bill Clinton - Irish Star - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton debuts major change in appearance on glam NYC date night with ex-pres hubby Bill - The Mirror US - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton, 77, looks unrecognizable in taut-faced photos during date night with Bill - Daily Mail - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- New Trump portrait slotted between Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush in White House - The Independent - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Pete Hegseth's shift on handling sensitive info: From shaming Hillary Clinton to sharing strikes - NBC News - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Trump sues law firm that helped Hillary Clinton acquire Russia dossier - The Telegraph - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton warns women over House GOP voting bill - MSN - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Torches Donald Trump Admin Move With Scathing, Sarcastic Jab - HuffPost - April 10th, 2025 [April 10th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Torches Donald Trump Admin Move With Scathing, Sarcastic Jab - Yahoo News Canada - April 10th, 2025 [April 10th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Torches Donald Trump Admin Move With Scathing, Sarcastic Jab - AOL.com - April 10th, 2025 [April 10th, 2025]
- I Worked for Hillary Clinton. The Hypocrisy in Signalgate Is Stunning. - U.S. News & World Report - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton on Trumps dumb power: its feeble, friendless, stupid and lethal - The Age - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton on Trumps dumb power: its feeble, friendless, stupid and lethal - The Sydney Morning Herald - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton: Signal group chat dangerous and just dumb - The Hill - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Opinion | Hillary Clinton: How Much Dumber Will This Get? - The New York Times - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton on Signal military plans chat leak: It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it's the stupidity - MSNBC News - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Joins Bluesky, Shoots to 120k Followers in 7 Hours - TheWrap - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Atlantic Signal-gate: Why cant Democrats get Hillary Clinton to shut up? - The Telegraph - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton, Once Accused of Her Own Security Breach, Calls Out Trump Administrations Stupidity Over Signal Messaging - The New York Sun - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hypocrisy Much? Hillary Clinton Calls Out Trump Admin for SignalGate Despite Her Past Controversies - Megyn Kelly The Devil May Care - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Pens Heated Op-Ed on Signalgate: 'It's Not the Hypocrisy That Bothers Me; It's the Stupidity' - Latin Times - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton warns Trump stupidity will leave US feeble and friendless - The Guardian US - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- This Is Just Dumb! Hillary Clinton Torches Slash-And-Burn Trump Admin in Scath ... - Mediaite - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton on the Signal Group-Chat Scandal: The Hypocrisy Is Staggering - Glamour - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton on war plans leak: Youve got to be kidding me - The Hill - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- But her e-mails? Here is how Trump's team reacted to a Hillary Clinton security breach - USA TODAY - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton reacts to military plans leak: You have got to be kidding me - The Guardian US - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Trump revokes security clearance for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and others - BBC.com - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton Reacts After Trump Admin Messages About War Plans Exposed - Newsweek - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
- Hillary Clinton's Response To The Pete Hegseth Group Chat Scandal Is Going Viral - Yahoo - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]