Kanye West, who met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, says he wasn’t the only guest at the dinner of former social media exiles and extremist watchlist mentions — white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who rose to prominence leading an army of Internet trolls, showed up too.
Fuentes, unlike Trump and Ye, didn’t have fame before infamy, so he’s not as well known amongst the portion of the general public that doesn’t spend time seeking out the worst of the worst in online forums — which means it may not sink in immediately just how egregious it is for a presidential candidate (or two) to align with him.
However, when it comes to racist cringe, Fuentes leads the pack.
Fuentes is a provocateur who likes to release podcast episodes where he drops racist bombs like describing Black Americans as people who “rob 5 7-11s in 30 minutes [and] walk around with their pants around their ankles,” and suggests that the answer (not because of these claims but because Black people statistically are more likely to vote for Democrats) is to “send the military into these Black neighborhoods, make the streets safe.”
In a separate rant, he declares that “there is a reason” Jewish people have been violently oppressed, and that “the reason is them,” before warning that there will be violence if Jewish people don’t start being nice to people like him.
Trump and Kanye are hardly the only Republicans to be called out for their association with Fuentes, either.
Paul Gosar, for instance, got a little attention last summer for appearing on a flyer for one of Fuentes’ events.
From Ye’s statement:
So Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes. Nick Fuentes, unlike so many of the lawyers and so many people he was left with in his 2020 campaign, is actually a loyalist.
You can see that clip below.
Ye: “So Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes.” pic.twitter.com/TP6UUDDEb6
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) November 25, 2022
So, exactly how reprehensible is Fuentes?
In the clip below, you can see him making the racist comments about Black neighborhoods referenced above, and insisting that Black Americans are violent people who assault white citizens in the street and that “this is what they do.”
White nationalist Nick Fuentes says Black voters will never support the GOP so just "do what must be done": "Send the military into these Black neighborhoods [and] make the streets safe. They'll complain about it [but] it doesn't matter. They're never gonna vote for us." pic.twitter.com/JoYV9tg1hw
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) November 14, 2022
Another clip follows that shows his antisemitic comments, in which he blames Jewish people for regimes that have victimized them, and demands that they “start being nice to people like us,” and claims to have been “bullied by the Jews.”
He threatens that things are going to get “far worse” than his hateful rhetoric if the Jewish community doesn’t heed this warning.
White nationalist antisemite Nick Fuentes warns that if "the Jews" don't stop oppressing people like him, it will soon lead to violence: "When it comes to the Jews, every society where shit has gone down with these people, it always goes from zero to sixty." pic.twitter.com/6TmQzRuemQ
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) November 15, 2022
Of course, Ye doesn’t say Trump is impressed with Fuentes’ beliefs or bigotry — that part isn’t mentioned. He focuses on the (purported) loyalty — a quality for which Trump has a reputation for ignoring all else.
What does it say about a presidential candidate if, when seeking loyalty, he’s reduced to scraping the bottom of the bigot barrel, and can’t seem to rally supporters who don’t thrive on hate?
Steph Bazzle covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph.