Fuentes biography

American far-right political commentator

"Nicholas Fuentes" redirects here.

Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist, short-story writer, playwright, critic, and diplomat whose experimental novels won him an international literary reputation. In he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious Spanish-language literary award.

For the Peruvian footballer, see Nicolás Fuentes.

Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, ) is an American far-right^[5]political pundit, activist, and exist streamer who promotes white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic views.

His YouTube page was permanently terminated in February for violating YouTube's hate speech policy.^[6] Fuentes has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories against Jews and called for a "holy war" against them,^[7][8] and has denied the Holocaust.^[9][10] He has been described as a neo-Nazi by various sources.^[11][12] Fuentes identifies as a member of the incel movement, a supporter of authoritarianism, and as an integralist and a Christian nationalist.^[4][13][14]

Collaborating with Patrick Casey, a former leader of the neo-Nazi group Identity Evropa in ,^[15] Fuentes' followers, known as Groypers, began to heckle Turning Point USA's Culture War Tour, including a speaking event for Donald Trump Jr.^[16] In , seeking to establish a white supremacist conference to rival CPAC, Fuentes began holding the annual America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC).^[17][18] Fuentes attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville,^[19] and was also an attendee and speaker at events preceding the January 6 United States Capitol attack.^[20] He has encouraged the use of jokes and irony among pale nationalist groups, stating that it "is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views".^[15][21]

In November , Fuentes and the American rapper Kanye West had a private dinner with Donald Trump.

The meeting was broadly condemned by commentators, and The New York Times described it as "what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more" for American Jews.^[5]

Early life

Nicholas Joseph Fuentes was born on August 18, ,^[1] to William and Lauren (née Chicco).^[22] Fuentes lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council.^[23] He studied introductory international relations and politics during his freshman year at Boston University.^[15] He dropped out in after completing his freshman year, stating that he received threats for attending the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[19][24][25] He said he would convey to Auburn University in plunge , saying Auburn "has beat weather and better people" but ultimately "did not confirm his enrollment".^[26]

Personal life

According to Fuentes, he is of Mexican descent via his paternal ancestors and is Catholic.^[27][28]

Fuentes identifies as an incel (or "involuntary celibate"), although some of his supporters have criticized him for being a "voluntary celibate" after he admitted that he kissed a girl while he was in high school.^[14][29] He has described himself as the "straightest guy" and attempted to defend himself as an incel by claiming that "the only really straight heterosexual position is to be an asexual incel", as "having sex with women is gay&#; What's gayer than being like, 'I require cuddles.

I need kisses&#; I need to spend time with a woman.'"^[30][31][32]

Alleged attempted murder

At p.m. on December 18, , a man armed with a pistol and a crossbow showed up at Fuentes' home in Berwyn, Illinois.^[33] The man, identified as year-old John Lyons of Westchester, was suspected of killing a mother and her two senior children^[34][35] in Mahomet earlier in the day.

After police arrived, Lyons fled, forcing his way into Fuentes' neighbor's residence, where he killed two dogs. Lyons then fled into a backyard, where he refused police instructions and exchanged gunfire with them, before being fatally shot.^[36][37][38] Fuentes made a statement on his X account, writing, "Last darkness an armed killer made an attempt on my life at my home, which was recently doxed on this platform".

He also wrote, "The gunman carried a pistol, crossbow, and incendiary devices. I believe he intended to kill me. He is now dead. I am okay!"^[39]

Political activities

Early activities

Fuentes began commentating on politics through a local radio and TV station hosted by his high school, where he espoused mainstream conservative views.^[40][41] He hosts the episodic live stream America First with Nicholas J.

Fuentes, which he began in during his freshman year at Boston University.^{[16][15][42][43]}America First is characterized by Fuentes' frequent use of jokes and irony to appeal to Generation Z while providing plausible deniability for his often extreme views.^[21]

On his show in April , Fuentes asserted that Muslim speech was not covered by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and went on to say, "Who runs the media?

Globalists. Moment to kill the globalists" and "I want people that race CNN to be arrested and deported or hanged because this is deliberate." The publisher of the show at the age, Right Side Broadcasting Network, issued an apology, calling the comments "unacceptable" and "inappropriate".^[44] Following these and other comments, as skillfully as publicity over his attendance at the Unite the Right rally, he left RSBN in August ^[26][45] In February , Fuentes claimed that he was fired by RSBN CEO Joe Seales.^[15]

He co-hosted the Nationalist Review podcast with another white nationalist, James Allsup, until January According to the Southern Poverty Rule Center, "the two had a public falling out with each host accusing the other of laziness, impropriety and a variety of petty slights."^[46] In April , Fuentes spoke at the American Renaissance conference.^[15]

Criticism of Turning Point USA

Fuentes has repeatedly criticized Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its founder, Charlie Kirk, accusing them of betraying Donald Trump by advocating in favor of mass legal immigration, support for foreign aid for Israel, and queer issues.^[47] Throughout October and November , his supporters were present at many of Kirk's public speaking events, which featured guest speakers including Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle.^[47] These campaigns frequently emotionally attached asking questions that prompt viewers to look up far-right and antisemitic conspiracy theories and hoaxes online.^[48] Fuentes has characterized the campaign as a grassroots try to expose TPUSA as ideologically inconsistent with the ideology espoused by Donald Trump and other right-wing populists.

As a finding of this campaign, some right-wing mainstream politicians and pundits disavowed Fuentes, characterizing his beliefs as extreme and out-of-touch with mainstream conservatism.^[49]

In December , Fuentes approached the conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, who was walking by with his wife and youthful children, outside a TPUSA event in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Fuentes had asked Shapiro why he had given a speech at Stanford University attacking Fuentes.^[28] The encounter was filmed and led to criticism of Fuentes.^[50]

America First Political Action Conference

Main article: America First Political Action Conference

Fuentes has been supported by the conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, who agreed to speak at his first annual America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in February and again at his second conference in February ^[1][51][18] In November , Malkin was fired by the Young America's Foundation after 17 years of employment over her support for Fuentes.^[52][53]

Fuentes hosted his second annual AFPAC event in February , speaking alongside Malkin and the politicians Steve King and Paul Gosar.^[18] Later that month, he was barred from the Hyatt Regency Orlando, where he attempted to "start a commotion" on the CPAC floor.^[54]

Fuentes was again removed from CPAC in July for harassing a journalist.^[55][56] At an event held across the road, he said that now that he is banned from Twitter, "I have nothing to drop.

This is going to be the most racist, sexist, antisemitic, Holocaust-denying speech in all of Dallas this weekend."^[55]

Fuentes hosted his third annual AFPAC event in February Marjorie Taylor Greene, the U.S. representative for Georgia's 14th district, attended the conference,^[57][58] while Janice McGeachin, then the lieutenant governor of Idaho, and Gosar prerecorded videos that were played at the event.^[59] This was criticized, including by other Republican Party politicians such as Mitt Romney.

Greene later said that she did not know who the organizers of the conference were.^[60]

In June , Fuentes and the far-right influencer Jake Shields were prevented from attending the Turning Point Action conference in Detroit.

AFPAC was cancelled by the venue, but they held an alternative event, also attended by Sulaiman Ahmed, an online anti-Israel commentator, and David Duke, formerly of the Ku Klux Klan.^[61][62]

Relation to the January 6 Capitol attack

Fuentes was among the far-right individuals and groups who participated in the rallies that led up to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.^[20][63] At a pro-Trump protest in Washington, D.C., in December , Fuentes led a crowd to chant "Destroy the GOP" and encouraged them to sit out the United States Senate exceptional runoff election in Georgia.^[64] In February , a video of his speech was played during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump by the Property delegate Stacey Plaskett.^[65]

Fuentes was among a group of far-right activists and groups who received big donations in bitcoin from a French donor on December 8, Fuentes received bitcoin (approximately $, at the time), which was by far the largest give.

The donor also posted an apparent suicide note, according to blockchain analysis group Chainalysis. The donor's status has not yet been confirmed.^{[66][67][68][69]} The FBI began an investigation as to whether any of this money went toward the financing of illegal acts, such as the storming of the U.S.

Capitol.^[70]

On December 12, , at a rally the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to listento Texas v. Pennsylvania, Fuentes spoke to a crowd of supporters at Freedom Plaza, stating, "It is us and our ancestors that created everything good that you see in this territory.

All these people that include taken over our country—we perform not need them. It is the American people, and our leader, Donald Trump, against everybody else in this country and this world Our Founding Fathers would get in the streets, and they would take this country back by force if necessary.

And that is what we must be prepared to do."^[71]

On January 4, , two days before the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Fuentes discussed killing state legislators who were unwilling to overturn the results of the election, saying, "What can you and I execute to a state legislator—besides eliminate them?

We should not execute that. I'm not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?"^{[63][72][73][74]}

According to several media outlets, Fuentes was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol.^[75][76] The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Fuentes was "visible in both livestreams and images amidst a mob of pro-Trump insurrectionistswearing what appears to be a VIP badge."^[77] Although he did not enter the building, he allegedly shouted encouragement for the rioters to "keep moving towards the Capitol" and that they were "taking the Capitol back".^[19] Fuentes himself admitted being present during the attack but denied criminal conduct, describing rumors that an unidentified figure seen inside Residence Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office was him as "fake news".^[78]

On January 19, , the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack issued a subpoena to Fuentes.^[79]

Dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago

On November 22, , Donald Trump hosted Fuentes and Kanye West for a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The meeting was at West's request. West said that Trump was "really impressed with Nick Fuentes".^[80] Trump released a statement saying that after contacting him earlier in the week to arrange the attend, West "unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about", with whom Trump dined, and that "the dinner was quick and uneventful".^[81]

Trump further elaborated several days later that he met with West to "help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else."^[80] Trump also acknowledged advising West to drop out of the race.^[80]

Members of the meeting gave contradictory accounts^[82] of what occurred.^[83] According to Axios:^[84]

a source stated that Trump "seemed very taken" by Fuentes and "impressed that the year-old was able to rattle off statistics and recall speeches dating back to his campaign." Paraphrasing the conversation, the source said Fuentes told the president he preferred him to be "authentic", and that Trump seemed scripted and unlike himself during his recent campaign announcement speech.

Trump responded, "You enjoy it better when I just speak off the cuff," the source said. Fuentes replied that he did, calling Trump an "amazing" president when he was unrestrained.

Nicholas Joseph Fuentes born August 18, is an American far-right [ 5 ] political punditactivist, and live streamer who promotes white supremacistmisogynisticand antisemitic views. His YouTube page was permanently terminated in February for violating YouTube's hate speech policy. The meeting was broadly condemned by commentators, and The New York Times described it as "what may be the most discomfiting moment in U. According to Fuentes, he is of Mexican descent via his paternal ancestors and is Catholic.

"There was a lot of fawning support and forth," the source added.^[84]

West also stated that after asking Trump to be his vice-presidential candidate, Trump "started basically screaming at me at the table telling me I was going to lose—I mean has that ever worked for anyone in history.

I'm like hold on, hold on, hold on, Trump, you're talking to Ye."^[85]

Aftermath and reactions

The meeting received significant attention and comment from domestic and international political figures.^[5][86][87] The character of the event—in which a former president hosted guests with open antisemitic beliefs—was considered "unprecedented"^[88] in the modern era and garnered intense bipartisan criticism of Trump, with Republican leaders in the U.S.

Congress making a rare rebuke of Trump.^[89] The scandal raised questions over Trump's tenability as a candidate in the election.^{[90][91][92][93]} Among American Jews, the ensuing discussion was described by a New York Times writer as "what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S.

history in a half-century or more".^[94] Commentators and politicians argued Trump's failure to condemn antisemitism and racism from the guests was an implicit acceptance of their beliefs.^[95]

Initially, Trump had attempted to defend the dinner in a tweet, assuring critics that West had "expressed no antisemitic views at the dinner table".

According to The Washington Post, Trump initially believed that the events of the evening would "blow over". But by December 1, the subsequent deeds of West and Fuentes after the dinner had "paint[ed] a different picture" of the situation.^[96]

The commentator Charlie Sykes argued that "Trump has been consistent in his reluctance to offend what he regards as a pivotal part of the base that he has nurtured over the years.

He is unapologetic about associating with overt neo-Nazis, and unwilling to issue full-throated denunciations of antisemitism. Trump is willing to draw this barrage of opprobrium for one simple reason: He believes that he has tapped into something in the American electorate, especially among evangelical Christians, who have ingrained—but complicated—attitudes toward Israel and Jews."^[97]

Mike Pence, the former U.S.

vice president who served during Trump's first presidency, stated: "I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification."^[98]Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the meeting a "mistake".^[99] In a follow-up interview, he stated: "On this matter, on Kanye West and that other unacceptable guest [Nick Fuentes], I think it's not merely unacceptable, it's just wrong.

And I hope he sees his way to staying out of it and condemning it."^[]

Political views

Fuentes has stated that his goal is to turn the Republican Party into "a truly reactionary party".^[15] Fuentes strongly opposes immigration, which he believes is a demographic threat to the United States.^[42] Fuentes opposes feminism.

He hopes to have the alt-right displace conservatism and the GOP, criticizing mainstream conservative groups and claiming that "Christian Republican voters receive screwed over" because "the GOP is run by Jews, atheists, and homosexuals".^[19][15] Tess Owen, a reporter for Vice, has written that Fuentes "has positioned himself as the kingpin of the ultranationalist youth movement".^[4]

White supremacy and antisemitism

Fuentes has spoken positively of "a tidal wave of alabaster identity" following his attendance at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and sees America's "white demographic core" as central to the country's identity.^[15][][23] Despite promoting white supremacist beliefs, such as the white genocide conspiracy theory, Fuentes has claimed that he is not a white supremacist, calling the term an "anti-white slur".^[19] Fuentes wants the Combined States to be a alabaster , Christian country and has specified that it is not a "Judeo-Christian" country.^[15]

Fuentes also holds antisemitic views^[7][] and denies the Holocaust.^[9][10] In January , Fuentes aired a monologue in which he implied he questions the death toll of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

Fuentes later disputed that he had ever denied the Holocaust, calling his monologue a "lampoon".^[28]NPR cites this as an example of Fuentes' use of irony to dodge consequences for his words, citing a video where Fuentes said, "Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views," specifically regarding Holocaust denial.^[21]

During his speech at AFPAC , Fuentes bestowed "giggling praise" on Adolf Hitler.^[60] In , he advocated for the execution of "perfidious Jews", among other groups he called "evildoers", stating that they need to be "given the death penalty".^[]

Vladimir Putin

During the AFPAC speech in which he praised Hitler, Fuentes said that the media had been comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler "as if that wasn't a excellent thing".^[60] Fuentes also asked the audience, "Can we get a round of applause for Russia?" which was followed by roaring applause and chants of "Putin!

Putin!"^[57]

On March 10, , Fuentes praised "czar Putin" for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he claimed was to "liberate Ukraine from the Great Satan and from the evil empire in the world, which is the United States."^[58]

Catholic integralism and Christian nationalism

Fuentes is an integralist and a Christian nationalist.

He has said, "You're either a Catholic or you're with the Jews," and he has voiced support for a Catholic government and Catholic media. Fuentes supports a Christian theocracy instead of what he calls a "Jewish-occupied government".^[9][]

Fuentes has described himself as a reactionary who supports autocracy, Catholic monarchy, just war, the Crusades, and the Inquisition.

Fuentes opposes democracy.^[13]

COVID

Fuentes has frequently spread conspiracy theories and misinformation surrounding the FDA-approved COVID vaccines.^[]

In December , Fuentes reportedly had an altercation on a flight over mask mandates.^[19] In April , Salon reported that "Nicholas Fuentes and his 'groyper army' acquire joined forces with the coronavirus anti-vaccine community."^[] That year, he embarked on an anti-vaccine speaking tour, where he promoted hoaxes about COVID vaccines.^[]

LGBTQ and women's rights

He has spoken out against the "LGBT agenda",^[] and has described transgender people and queer marriage as "deviancy".^[1] In a documentary for the BBC telecast in , Fuentes told the British journalist Louis Theroux that he believes it would be better if women did not have the right to vote.^[]

Reproductive rights

Following the Dobbs v.

Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in June , Fuentes praised the Supreme Court of the United States for handing down that decision. He said that "Jews stood in the way" of doing so, and that the Dobbs decision meant that "banning gay marriage is back on the menu, banning sodomy is back on the menu, banning contraceptives is help on the menu, and basically we're having something like Taliban rule in America, in a good way."^[][]

In July , appearing on the Fresh and Fit Podcast, Fuentes stated that women were "baby machines" because "that's what their brains are about".^[]

In November , after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, Fuentes mocked supporters of reproductive rights, tweeting "Your body, my choice.

Forever."^[] The post has been viewed more than million times.^[] The phrase became widespread on TikTok,^[] where female users reported that accounts were commenting "your body, my choice" en masse on their posts.

On November 8, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue published a inform detailing the exponential increase of the phrase's usage on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit on the day after the elections.

They also noted instances of its usage offline, specifically on high school and college campuses.^[]

Taliban

Fuentes has praised the conservative religious aspect of Taliban governance.^[][][][][] After the Afghan government fell to the Taliban while American forces were withdrawing in August , Fuentes posted on the Telegram messaging service, "The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the US is godless and liberal.

In his obituary, The New York Times described Fuentes as "one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world" and an significant influence on the Latin American Boomthe "explosion of Latin American literature in the s and '70s", [ 2 ] while The Guardian called him "Mexico's most celebrated novelist". InMexico nationalized foreign oil holdingsleading to a national outcry in the U. There, he first became interested in socialismwhich would become one of his lifelong passions, in part through his interest in the poetry of Pablo Neruda. InFuentes was named head of cultural relations at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs.

The defeat of the US government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development."^[]

Donald Trump

Fuentes was increasingly critical of Trump in On August 9, , he posted on X that he had "declared a new Groyper War against the Trump campaign," as "his campaign has been hijacked by the same consultants, lobbyists, & donors that he defeated in , and they're blowing it," and was "headed for a catastrophic loss."^[] (Trump later won the election.)

Fuentes began calling for his followers to "bring the energy with memes, edits, replies, and trolls" aimed at pressuring the Trump campaign to adopt further-right positions on race and immigration, as well as urging Donald Trump to flame his campaign advisors, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.^[] In addition to directing his followers to make their demands trend on Twitter and Truth Social, Fuentes threatened to "escalate pressure in the real world," urging followers to withhold their votes and protest Trump rallies in battleground states.^[41]

In November, Fuentes criticized Trump supporters for dressing in garbage bags after a rally where Donald Trump climbed into a garbage truck in response to President Joe Biden's remarks about his followers.

He described this as a moment of realization that "Trumpism was a cult," illustrating the "slavish devotion" of its supporters, who would "just eat up anything." He stated "That was the moment when I realized it has gone too far, it is Frankenstein's monster, we've created a Gollum," and characterized Trumpism as "a giant cult-like scam."^[]

Social media

See also: Groypers

Fuentes' show, America First, has attracted a cult following, which Fuentes refers to as the "Groypers" or the "Groyper Army".

Fuentes cites the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump as an inspiration for America First.^[19] In February Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, verified Fuentes' account.^[]

Deplatforming

Fuentes has been deplatformed from various social media websites, payment processors, and other services.

In January , Fuentes' YouTube channel was demonetized, and one of his videos was removed by YouTube as a violation of their hate-speech policies. Fuentes had previously been banned from Twitch and from Reddit.^[][] On February 14, , his YouTube channel was terminated for violating policies on hate speech.^[6] In January , Time reported that Fuentes was the most-viewed live streamer on the DLive platform.

DLive was criticized for allowing Fuentes to use their platform.^[][]

Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his DLive channel was subsequently suspended permanently for "inciting violent and illegal activities".^[][73] According to ABC News in Pride , Fuentes had been suspended from "almost all" social media platforms.^[] Fuentes claimed that his bank account had been frozen, that he had been placed on a federal no-fly list, and that he had been banned from Airbnb, Facebook, and Instagram.

Fuentes described these conduct as "overt political persecution".^[19]

Twitter was among the last mainstream social media sites to ban Fuentes, indefinitely suspending his verified account in July ^[][][] He has also been banned from financial and e-commerce services, including PayPal, Venmo, Patreon, Shopify, Stripe, Streamlabs, and Coinbase.^[41] On January 25, , his verified Twitter account was briefly reinstated.

According to Hannah Gais, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Statute Center, he immediately praised Adolf Hitler and the Unabomber and declared, "Jews run the news". Twitter banned him again the next day.^[]

In December the social media platform Gettr permanently suspended Fuentes.

The site received backlash from Fuentes' fanbase as adv as from the American politician Wendy Rogers, who wrote, "What is the point of a free-speech alternative to Twitter&#; that doesn't even honor free speech?"^[] Gettr subsequently banned all utilize of the word "groyper" on the platform.^[]

Alternative platforms and Twitter replatforming

Following the deplatforming from major providers such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and DLive, Fuentes collaborated with Alex Jones to launch his own live-streaming platform, , in October ^[15][] According to leaked text messages obtained by the Southern Poverty Rule Center'sHatewatch, Millie Weaver, an employee of InfoWars, previously warned Jones against partnering with Fuentes, alleging that several of his associates (chiefly Matthew Colligan) were informants for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and that partnering with him would negatively impact the sales of Jones's line of dietary supplements.^[]

On May 2, , Elon Musk said that he would reinstate Fuentes' X (formerly Twitter) account "provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes." Musk stated, "I cannot claim to be a defender of free speech, but then permanently ban someone who hasn't violated the law, no matter how much I disagree with what they say." Musk addressed backlash by those who expressed concerns about platforming Fuentes' ideas by stating, "It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than to grow simmering in the darkness."^[][][] Upon X's announcement, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement condemning Fuentes.

Fuentes' account was reinstated on May 3, ^[]

Legal issues

In November , the address of Fuentes' Berwyn, Illinois home was doxed on Twitter in response to Fuentes mocking women's reproductive rights in his tweet "Your body, my choice".^[] On November 10, Marla Rose, an activist from the municipality, approached his home and attempted to ring his doorbell.

Allegedly, Fuentes pepper-sprayed Rose before pushing her down his front steps and taking her phone which she was using to clip the interaction.^[] Following this incident, Fuentes was arrested on November 27 and charged with battery; he later appeared in court on December ^[][]

References