Maine Republican Party Vice Chair Nick Isgro warned viewers of a livestream on Facebook that abortion providers were given subsidies “so we can kill our own people” while “global elites” bring immigrants into America “to be used for our own destruction.”
In a Facebook Live video uploaded to the “Restore Maine’s Future” page on Facebook last weekend, Isgro told viewers that the state of Maine was suffering an “absolute crisis.” Isgro said that sanctuary city policies in Portland, Maine, were a threat to the rest of the state.
“We keep being told that we need more workers at the same time that we’re expanding and giving massive subsidies, now, to the abortion industry so we can kill our own people, but we have to import all these people so that we can continue to have a stream of cheap labor,” Isgro said. He went on to refer to asylum-seeking immigrants in Maine as “human pawns in a game that is being played by global elites.”
“Don’t let them pull on your heartstrings. They use a lot of emotional arguments. We have compassion on people who are being used as human pawns, but we cannot allow that to be used for our own destruction,” Isgro said. “We need to prioritize Mainers first.”
Isgro’s comments echo the sentiments “great replacement” conspiracy theories spread in white nationalist circles, which allege that wealthy elites (often used in those circles as a code-phrase for Jews) are bringing immigrants into Europe and North America with the intention of destroying the “homelands” of white people.
He added, “Everything that we love and hold dear as Mainers is under attack and this influx of immigrants is all part of the plan to continue to do that, in order to undermine our ability to band together and put an end to what’s going on.”
Isgro is listed on Maine Republican Party’s website as the party’s vice chair. The Maine Republican Party did not answer Right Wing Watch’s email inquiry prior to publication. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Isgro’s remarks follow a long series of hateful statements documented by Maine Beacon, a website created by progressive group Maine People’s Alliance. On Facebook, Isgro has frequently used terminology associated with the surge of the so-called “alt-right” in 2016; he called anti-sexual harassment legislation “cucked shit,” and frequently shared posts attacking Muslim and Somali immigrants.
