White nationalist Richard Spencer appeared on far-right streamer Ethan Ralph's "Killstream" program Saturday, where he explained that former President Donald Trump won't denounce Nick Fuentes—the racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, America-hating, Christian fascist leader of the white nationalist America First movement—because Trump "doesn't disavow his own people."
Spencer coined the term "alt-right," which encompasses the movement of white racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic far-right activists who swarmed to support Trump's presidential campaign in 2016 and played a key role in organizing the deadly white nationalist "Unite The Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Fuentes, who was also involved in the "Unite The Right" rally, had dinner last month with Trump and rap mogul Kanye West at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, which set off a firestorm of controversy. Since then, Fuentes and West, who now goes by the name Ye, appeared on "The Alex Jones Show," where West heaped praise on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Despite the fact that the dinner and its aftermath have been an unmitigated disaster for Trump, he has steadfastly refused to denounce Fuentes, and Spencer thinks that he knows why.
"What do you think about Trump not disavowing Fuentes this whole time?" Ralph asked.
"He can't," Spencer replied. "Look, he never really disavowed me, he never disavowed the alt-right, he never disavowed Charlottesville. He doesn't disavow his own people."
"He won't disavow his own people," Spencer continued. "He does know who butters his bread, and so he's not gonna do it. ... I don't think he's going to do it and I think if he's forced to do it, it would ultimately be a weakness. I think any Republican that's denouncing this stuff is going to lose. Any Republican that denounces Ye is going to lose because they're ultimately denouncing their own people."
We need your help. Every day, Right Wing Watch exposes extremism to help the public, activists, and journalists understand the strategies and tactics of anti-democratic forces—and respond to an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian far-right movement. The threat is growing, but our resources are not. Any size contribution—or a small monthly donation—will help us continue our work and become more effective at disrupting the ideologies, people, and organizations that threaten our freedom and democracy. Please make an investment in Right Wing Watch’s defense of the values we share.
