‘Dark MAGA’? Tyranny? Cawthorn and Robinson’s rhetoric takes a scarier turn

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn have never shied away from extreme rhetoric. In fact, they’ve pretty much embraced it as their brand.

But these two public faces of the North Carolina Republican Party have begun speaking in even darker tones that should trouble every North Carolinian.

At a church sermon earlier this month, Robinson implied that people should be prepared to take up arms if a government becomes “tyrannical.” He owns AR-15s for that reason, he said.

“I got them AR-15s in case the government gets too big for its britches,” he told the audience. “‘Cause I’m gonna fill the backside of them britches with some lead.”

Robinson’s comments were later met with sharp criticism from Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, two of the state’s highest-ranking Democrats.

“[Robinson’s] assault weapon threats are bad enough, but an elected official sworn to uphold the constitution advocating violent overthrow of our govt shames NC and puts our safety and our democracy at risk,” Cooper wrote on social media Tuesday.

Stein, who could potentially run against Robinson for governor in 2024, said Robinson’s words were “incredibly dangerous” and “simply unacceptable.”

A recent post on Cawthorn’s Instagram — shared just days after he lost his re-election bid to “the establishment” — was no less disturbing.

“It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command,” Cawthorn wrote. “We have an enemy to defeat, but we will never be able to defeat them until we defeat the cowardly and weak members of our own party. Their days are numbered. We are coming.”

“Dark MAGA” is described as a movement that wants to see former President Donald Trump return to power and inflict vengeance on his enemies in a more ruthless and unforgiving manner. It frequently invokes white nationalist and neo-Nazi imagery.

The post also included a list of “America First Patriots” who have stood by Cawthorn no matter what. Included on that list is North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, a steadfast supporter of Cawthorn, Robinson and Trump.

Cawthorn’s primary loss was evidence that Republicans haven’t lost the ability to stand up to one of their own, and they can be effective when they do. But their critique of Cawthorn was merely personal — he was immature and embarrassing, unfit for public office.

His behavior was only part of the problem. What they still have yet to acknowledge is that Cawthorn is hardly anomalous, and getting him out of office is an incomplete solution. The real problem is much larger: an alarming normalization of far-right extremism that many Republicans refuse to reckon with. And it’s only getting more brazen and more violent.

When a mob of Trump supporters descended on the U.S. Capitol in what can only be described as a legitimate insurrection, it should have been a wake-up call for Republicans. It was a very real example of what can happen when provocations and patently false rhetoric go unchecked.

Not much has changed. The Republican Party is still asleep at the wheel, allowing extremists to steer them down a dangerous path. Look at people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz: members of Congress who are no less dangerous than Cawthorn, but have received only half-hearted criticism from their party.

Cawthorn may only ever be a one-term congressman, but he’s not going away. Nor is Robinson. And the threat that they both pose isn’t, either. They may not ever engage in violence themselves, but their words may give others a reason to do so.

Robinson’s comments might have sparked unusually strong criticism from the governor and attorney general, but too many Republican leaders are still tongue-tied by party loyalty. What will it take for them to finally speak up?

This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 3:45 PM with the headline "‘Dark MAGA’? Tyranny? Cawthorn and Robinson’s rhetoric takes a scarier turn."