Virtually all racists belong to the Republican Party,' former Reagan adviser declares on MSNBC

A former domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan said "virtually all racists belong to the Republican Party" and likened conservative news sources to the Nazi propaganda organs of the 1930s.

Bruce Bartlett — who recently wrote that he "helped create the GOP tax myth" — ripped conservative news outlets and those who frequent them during a Saturday interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid.

And Reid, no fan of conservatives, appeared to appreciate her unlikely ally's viewpoints.

Two silos of information?

“There are two silos of information," Reid noted. "The conservative silo where they're getting their media from one place, and then everyone else getting their media from another. So how can people sort of protect themselves if they're inside that conservative news bubble?”

Bartlett replied that such folks "never hear many facts" and apparently don't care if they don't.

“Well, I don't think they want to be protected unfortunately," he said. "I mean, you've got a huge number of people in this country who get virtually all of their news from Fox, or they listen only to talk radio where you really only hear the right-wing point of view from Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. And if they're looking on the internet, they're reading the Drudge Report or Breitbart. They're in a closed loop where they never hear many facts."

Uh, Joseph Goebbels?

Bartlett then likened what conservative news sources disseminate to 1930s Nazi propaganda.

“They hear lies," he continued. "And so when they hear the same lie over and over again, we know this is called the big-lie technique that Joseph Goebbels invented back in the 1930s. And unfortunately it works.”

Reid then asked Bartlett to address the notion that Republicans “cuddle up to” neo-Confederates and racists, and Bartlett didn't disappoint. Well, he didn't disappoint Reid at least.

Virtually all racists belong to the Republican party today?

“Well, you know, it's been said many times that not all Republicans are racists, but ... virtually all racists belong to the Republican party today. And I'll make the point as well ... that these people used to be Democrats. The Democrats' party used to be the party of the South, and now the Republicans are the party of the South. And a lot of people refuse to admit that there's been any change."

Bartlett went on to say he feels "sorry for establishment Republicans" who "have to be silent" and are "afraid to speak out in their own party for fear of being excommunicated."

This writer's perspective

Reid doesn't exactly score credibility points with her bit about the two silos of information: the conservative silo and the other silo, the bastion of truth where everyone else with brain cells gets their information. This is coming from a decidedly far-left pundit who uses screen time on a news network that's known to lean left just a tad.

And Bartlett isn't likely to woo new social media followers from the conservative perspective — if that's his goal — by trotting out the tired "conservatives = Nazis" jag that hasn't earned the left-wing anything except eye rolling and endless snickers.

But then there's his "virtually all racists belong to the Republican party today." Does Bartlett not Google? A cursory search would've unearthed a few gems right off the bat.

• Such as the Democratic Virginia House of Delegates candidate who made racist comments on his personal Facebook page, which led state party leaders to ask him to step down from the campaign.
• And Fox News firing liberal host Bob Beckel for making an "insensitive comment to an African-American employee."
• Or perhaps the Florida Democratic Party chairman stating earlier this year he's ready to resign over racial remarks.
• And a major donor to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who reportedly made racist remarks on Facebook about the state senate's Democratic minority leader.

Again, that's just scratching the surface — a skill with which both Bartlett and Reid seem intimately familiar.

(H/T: Truth Revolt)