Racist Republicans Want to DEPORT Zohran?!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes – "Racist Republicans Want to DEPORT Zohran?!"

Release Date: June 26, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Bulwark Takes, hosts Sam Stein and Tim Miller delve into a contentious and alarming development within American politics: prominent Republican figures advocating for the deportation of Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate in New York. The discussion highlights the rise of overt racism and anti-immigrant sentiments among certain factions of the Republican Party and explores the broader implications for democracy and civil liberties.

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1. The Controversial Calls for Deportation

Sam Stein opens the conversation by addressing recent tweets from Republican figures Annie Ogles and Nancy Mace, who have either suggested or directly called for the deportation of Zohran Mamdani.

• Sam Stein [01:11]: "We have two tweets that we're going to be talking about, one from Annie Ogles and one from Nancy Mace, both of which suggest, if not directly call for the deportation of... Zohran Mamdani."

Despite Mamdani being a naturalized U.S. citizen, these high-profile calls for his deportation signal a troubling shift towards extreme measures within the party.

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2. The Response: Outrage and Condemnation

Tim Miller expresses strong condemnation of the Republican figures’ actions, emphasizing the real and damaging consequences of such rhetoric.

• Tim Miller [01:43]: "Fuck these people. Fuck you, Nancy Mace. Fuck you, Andy Ogles. You know what you're doing? This is real. It's a troll, but it's real and it's damaging."

Miller underscores the hypocrisy within the party, where racist and extreme actions go unchecked, fostering an environment where such behavior can flourish without repercussions.

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3. Historical Context and Patterns of Extremism

The hosts draw parallels between current events and past instances where extreme rhetoric from fringe groups eventually influenced mainstream policy.

• Tim Miller [02:26]: "It's just like, oh, these are just some young trolley Republicans. It's like this is where these folks are going to go. And time and again their trolls have turned into reality. Like the Muslim ban was a troll at the start and then it became the policy of the government."

This comparison to the Muslim Ban illustrates how what begins as extremist trolling can evolve into actual governance, posing significant threats to minority communities.

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4. The Misconception of "Just a Joke"

Sam Stein challenges the notion that such extremist remarks are merely political jokes, arguing that the underlying sentiment is deeply harmful regardless of intent.

• Sam Stein [04:24]: "You know, I don't think that makes it any less worse because if it is a joke, what it's saying is that Nancy Mason, Annie Gouls and young Republicans think that their people will get a real rise, a real laugh and hoot, if not become galvanized by overt racism and statism and this type of honestly horrific anti Muslim ism and it's just like a really nasty view of their own people."

This perspective emphasizes that even if intended humorously, the implications reinforce and normalize racist ideologies.

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5. Strategic Polarization and Political Maneuvering

Tim Miller discusses how certain Republican strategies aim to entrench divisions and manipulate political narratives to their advantage.

• Tim Miller [05:24]: "This is strategic. They want what we're doing right now. They want people to defend Zoran because the Republicans are going to want to try to make Zorin the face of the party and they think he's not palatable."

He further critiques figures like Andy Ogles, labeling him as merely seeking personal attention rather than engaging in thoughtful political discourse.

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6. The Real-World Impact: Case Studies and Personal Stories

Sam Stein highlights alarming individual cases that exemplify the consequences of the current deportation regime, illustrating the human cost of these political maneuvers.

• Sam Stein [07:14]: "Just perusing social media, someone passed me a story from Texas. It's from the Austin Chronicle. He says, 'I'm looking out the window on the plane,' Thomas told the Chronicle, and 'I'm hoping the plane crashes and I die.'"

This account underscores the dire psychological and physical impact on those targeted by such extremist policies.

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7. The Importance of Engagement and Resistance

Both hosts advocate for active opposition against these extremist measures, stressing that complacency only allows such policies to gain traction and become normalized.

• Sam Stein [07:37]: "If you don't stand up to it at any particular moment when it's in front of your face, it will just keep happening."

They argue that silence or inaction emboldens the perpetrators, enabling a continuous erosion of civil rights and democratic principles.

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8. Clarifying Zohran Mamdani’s Background

To provide context, Sam and Tim clarify Zohran Mamdani’s background, emphasizing his status as a naturalized citizen and current political figure.

• Sam Stein [09:02]: "Zoram Amdani was born in Uganda in 1991. He moved to New York with his family, and he's going to be the mayor. He moved to America at the age of seven in '98 and became a naturalized US citizen in 2018."

This clarification underscores the injustices involved in targeting a rightful citizen and elected official for deportation.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a strong condemnation of the Republican figures advocating for deportation, highlighting the urgent need for vigilance and resistance against such extremist policies. Sam Stein and Tim Miller call on listeners to remain engaged and proactive in defending democratic values and protecting vulnerable communities from discriminatory practices.

• Tim Miller [09:34]: "That was terrible math. 26 years. See you later. Bye."

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Notable Quotes

1. Tim Miller [01:43]: "Fuck these people. Fuck you, Nancy Mace. Fuck you, Andy Ogles."
2. Tim Miller [02:26]: "Time and again their trolls have turned into reality. Like the Muslim ban was a troll at the start and then it became the policy of the government."
3. Sam Stein [04:24]: "It's just like a really nasty view of their own people."
4. Sam Stein [07:37]: "If you don't stand up to it at any particular moment when it's in front of your face, it will just keep happening."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Bulwark Takes serves as a critical examination of rising extremist rhetoric within the Republican Party and its potential to reshape American policy and society adversely. Through passionate discussion and compelling evidence, Sam Stein and Tim Miller urge listeners to recognize and combat these threats to uphold the nation's foundational values.

Transcript

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[Sam Stein]

Hey, guys, it's Sam Stein, managing editor at the Borg. I'm joined by Tim Miller. We are here to discuss these fucking.

[Tim Miller]

Assholes is what we're here to discuss. These fucking assholes.

[Sam Stein]

I was going to be a little bit more diplomatic, but sure, I think that's objectively true. We have two tweets that we're going to be talking about, one from Annie Ogles and one from Nancy Mace, both of which suggest, if not directly call for the deportation of. You got it. Zorhan Mamdani. Who knew that they would move this fast to something so predictable, but they think that the democratic socialist now mayoral candidate from New York, who was not born in this country, he's an immigrant, but came to this country, should be deported even though he's a citizen of this country.

[Tim Miller]

Fuck these people. Fuck you, Nancy Mace. Fuck you, Andy Ogles. You know what you're doing? This is real. It's tr. It's a troll, but it's real and it's damaging. And all these people that tried to like, get high minded about how Zoron's rhetoric was too extreme and you know, everybody knows my opinion on that, like, and then on their side, there's no accountability, there's no anything. It's just they can be as racist and as nasty and as disgusting and despicable as they want and no one on the MAGA side is going to blink at all. And they should be Ashamed of themselves. And I knew we all I was coming as you mentioned, Sam, but last.

[Sam Stein]

Night on the next so predictable.

[Tim Miller]

So last night on the next level I, I said this because the, the first group to do this was the New York Young Republicans. It's the most MAGA of the Young Republican, you know, whatever outfits and these guys had hosted Trump before. They are one of their former chairman is now high ranking official in the Trump administration, has a job he's totally unqualified for. And I was like, look, if these guys are jumping on this now, it should not be dismissed. It's just like, oh, these are just some trolley young Republicans. It's like this is where these folks are going to go. And time and again their trolls have turned into reality. Like the Muslim ban was a troll at the start and then it became the policy of the government. How many times the Muslim ban, just.

[Sam Stein]

For the history of it, the Muslim ban was introduced after the horrific attacks in California and it was a press release. It was just a press release designed to get media attention, then turn into policy.

[Tim Miller]

Then it became the government's policy. So I don't, you know, I mean they jailed Mahoud Khalil for nothing, for an op ed. So I'm not really suggesting, I think they're actually going to denaturalize Iran. But you can't come and tell me that this is fake as a threat or. Tim, you got to, you just got to lighten up for the LOLs. Nothing matters. It's like, no, they're doing this. They are jailing people in this country for their speech and they're young Muslim people, let's be honest, directly for their speech related to Israel, Palestine. And so now when you have prominent elected officials, the advocacy group that's probably the closest to the President as far as young Republicans are concerned, like calling for this. It's like it should be taken seriously and should be denounced and these people should be ashamed.

[Sam Stein]

Right. Look here, think about it this way. Let's say it is a joke.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah.

[Sam Stein]

You know, I don't think that makes it any less worse because if it is a joke, what it's saying is that Nancy Mason, Annie Gouls and young Republicans think that their people will get a real rise, a real laugh and hoot, if not become galvanized by overt racism and statism and this type of honestly horrific anti Muslim ism and it's just like a really nasty view of their own people. So that's a bad joke, but it also doesn't make it funny. Or anything. It just makes it disturbing.

[Tim Miller]

And I also got to say. So this is where you get to the political. And there is. We have a little discussion on the chain about how this is reverse polarization. Yeah. This is strategic. Right. Like, they want. They want what we're doing right now. They want people to defend Zoron because the Republicans are going to want to try to make Zorin the face of the party and they think he's not palatable. And I'm like, okay. I'm like, whatever. I don't. I don't think Andy Ogles, who's a fucking moron from Tennessee, is actually thinking that deeply. I think that he's just a racist piece of shit.

[Sam Stein]

Right.

[Tim Miller]

And that wants attention for himself. But let me tell you this. I don't. I actually also reject this notion of, like, don't fall for their distractions because, like, Trump is a walking distraction. Trump. Trump appeal to people. There was a group of Trump supporters who came to him because he engaged in all these cultural issues and they thought he was funny. And they thought, like, whatever. They connected with it. And I'm telling you that the reverse can be made true if you make an argument about this. I was just watching the Ovan the other day, and you can kind of see it already in him where he was starting to talk about how he's feeling used by Maga and he feels like he's just this pawn and this political game. And he thought that it was these guys were coming after the deep state, but it turns out they're not. And he thought that they were anti war, and it turns out they're not. You can see it already happening in real time. And I'm telling you, like, some people watching this might think that all those BRO guys are all racist. They're not. Like, the Ovon does not want to live in a country where the people in charge are deporting people just because they have bad political views. Like, that's. That it isn't there. There are a handful of people out there that are free and we should engage on this. It should get attention because it might actually boomerang off against them. And even if it doesn't, fuck it still.

[Sam Stein]

Anyway, I'm glad you brought that up. I didn't know that's where we were going to go. But a couple reasons why I think you should engage this stuff, even if it's designed to get people to defend Mamdani, which. Whatever. Defend him. One is, I think if you don't engage this stuff, it gives the worst actors in politics more Runway to do worse things. And it allows them to take what are trolling exercises or whatever you want to call this and turn them into policy. Because they're not going to get pushback. In fact, they're just going to get. They're just going to get attaboys from their people. The second thing is, because this is not a one off. I mean, what's happening across the country is such an egregious deportation regime that it's almost impossible to comprehend the scope of it and keep track of it. So we, and I'll just, I'll end after this. But the other day, as you were aware, we decided to put together a list of some of the more horrific stories that were happening across the country. We put together what I thought was a fairly comprehensive list, like, you know, 10 really gruesome stories across the country. Today, just perusing social media, someone passed me a story from Texas. It's from the Austin Chronicle. And I read it and I was shocked. The lead is this. Ten years ago, Jermaine Thomas was at the center of a case brought before the US Supreme Court. Should a baby born to a US father, deployed to a US army base in Germany, have US Citizenship? Last week, Thomas was escorted on a plane with his wrists and ankle shackled. He says he arrived in Jamaica, a country he'd never been to. A stateless man. Quote, I'm looking out the window on the plane, thomas told the Chronicle, and I'm hoping the plane crashes and I die. That was shocking. But what shocked me more was this. The date of the article. June 4, 2025. It's June 26th. How did I not see this article for 22 days? And the reason I didn't see this article for 20 days is because this shit's happening everywhere. Everywhere. And so if you don't stand up to it at any particular moment when it's in front of your face, it will just keep happening.

[Tim Miller]

Zoran example is a way to bring attention to this where it should. This should break through outside of just the bulwark bubble, I think, because it's like, guys, maybe Zoran won't actually be deported back to Uganda, you know, because they decide it's too big of a political risk. But they're deporting Zoran type people back to home countries to be an elected.

[Sam Stein]

Official on the precipice of the New York mayorality, to have protection from this shit.

[Tim Miller]

I agree. I've got nothing to add to that.

[Sam Stein]

Just ending on the facts so that people understand. Zoram Amdani was born in Uganda in 1991. He moved to New York with his.

[Tim Miller]

Family, and he's going to be the mayor. Oh, no, that's. That's a tough one.

[Sam Stein]

Putting that aside, he moved to America at the age of seven. In 98. He became a naturalized US citizen in 2018. So he has been here. I mean, this is crazy. What are we doing here? All right, Tim. Thanks, man. Appreciate you guys. Thank you for watching. Hope you appreciate this, and we'll talk to you later.

[Tim Miller]

That was terrible math. 26 years. See you later. Bye. Subscribe to the feed. I was a liberal arts major.