To Republicans, “they/them” aren’t pronouns indicating tolerance and inclusion. Instead, these terms refer to anybody who is part of a mysterious and usually nonsensical conspiracy perpetrated against conservatives.
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Republicans are generally not fans of the use of “they/them” as pronouns. But when it comes to claims that injustices are being committed against Donald Trump (or others on the right), or who is responsible for nebulous alleged conspiracies, “them/they” often does a lot of heavy lifting.
It’s important to note that it’s not just some fringe lunatics who blame “them” for everything they don’t like. Instead, it is everybody in the GOP and the MAGAverse.
Above all, Donald Trump’s Big Lie is based on the premise that “they” stole the 2020 election from him. Of course, he was president at the time of this alleged theft, for which there is no evidence, and Republicans also controlled many of the governments in states where he claims to have been robbed of his rightful victory.
So, who could “they” be in that case? Nobody knows… and Trump certainly won’t say.
And that’s really the one thing that all of the GOP lawmakers and right-wing pundits who use “they” have in common: They* never go into details. Instead, they allude to some massive, undiscovered conspiracy perpetrated against Trump and his supporters.
This week, we saw a lot of that, not only after the failed assassination but also during the Republican convention.
The former was the perfect occasion for Trump allies to lay the blame for the attempt on the former president’s life at the feet of undesirable groups, i.e., Democrats saying mean things and the media (which is another such vague term because “the media” also includes the right-wing propagandists of Fox News).
In some cases, they laid (or lied) it on thick.
“First they tried to silence him. Then they tried to imprison him. Now they try to kill him,” wrote Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL) following the assassination attempt.
That’s a member of Congress making unproven allegations suggesting that “they” conspired to kill Trump without saying who “they” are… and in the face of available evidence that shows a lone wolf was very likely responsible.
Want a former cabinet official?
Here you go.
“First, they tried to ruin his reputation, and he’s more popular now than ever. Then, they tried to bankrupt him, and he’s got more money now than he had before,” said Ben Carson, Trump’s former secretary of Housing and Urban Development. “And then they tried to put him in prison, and he’s freer and has made other people free with him. And then last weekend, they tried to kill him, and there he is, alive and well.”
How about Trump’s running mate? This is Sen. JD Vance (OH) talking about the shooting.
“And then of course he stands up, a minute later, after they shot him, they literally shot him, and he raised his fist in the air, and he shouts ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ And he fires up the crowd,” Vance said during a press conference at the Republican National Convention.
You want one of Trump’s family members? No problem.
The former president’s son Eric said this week that “they tried to take his life. That was the final attack.”
To his credit, he later noted that the shooting was carried out by “a mad man that got far too close.”
Then again, the fact that blaming “them” seems to be second nature for all of these men is disconcerting.
So, really, who are “they?”
Based on these examples (and there are endless more), it’s a cabal consisting of members of Trump’s administration and GOP election officials (in the case of the Big Lie), regular Americans serving on various grand juries (in the case of Trump’s legal troubles), Trump’s own financial mismanagement (in the case of his bankruptcies), and a 20-year-old gun nut from Pennsylvania.
You gotta hand it to “them,” that’s quite the coalition “they” have assembled.
Of course, this rhetorical sleight of hand is not about actually getting anybody to think about who “they” are.
The people in the MAGAverse know who is really meant by these vague allusions to “them” conspiring to bring America down.
“They” refers to Democrats in general, non-right-wing journalists, George Soros, other wealthy Jews, the elites, the gays, the deep state, a weaponized Department of Justice, brown people stealing jobs, institutions of higher learning, socialists, Marxists, atheists, the woke mob, illegals, etc.
Take your pick.
In any case, it really doesn’t matter because “they” means different things to different people.
One of the neat things for Republican lawmakers or right-wing influencers is that, when they talk about “them,” their voters will just substitute any of the above in their minds — all depending on their proclivities.
It doesn’t even have to make any sense!
Let’s go back to the assassination attempt, which Trump supporters are primarily blaming on the Democrats’ violent rhetoric, which is a much tamer version of what the former president routinely says, and on the media for covering… the news.
Now, if you tried to apply logic, it would be tricky to make the case that President Joe Biden saying that democracy is at stake, or “the media” reporting things Trump actually says and does, would cause a registered Republican to pick up a gun and try to kill the former president.
But the great thing is that, as long as you keep it vague, you don’t have to… because “they” is a universal bogeyman.
*Note that, when we use “they/them,” we always tell you exactly who we mean.
