In November 2022, Fuentes and Kanye West had a private dinner with Donald Trump. The meeting was condemned by some American political commentators due to Fuentes and West's antisemitism.[7] In August 2024, Fuentes launched the "Groyper War 2" against Trump's presidential campaign. Memes, trolls, and protests were used to push for more extreme right-wing positions. Fuentes credited the "Groyper War 2" for Trump's rehiring of Corey Lewandowski.[19][20] In 2025, Fuentes said Trump was a "scam artist" due to his failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein client list.[21][22]
Fuentes has been involved in a number of controversial events. Fuentes attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally, and was also an attendee and speaker at events preceding the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Fuentes faced widespread deplatforming from major social media, streaming, and financial services between 2020 and 2023, primarily for violating hate speech policies and inciting violence. In November 2024, after his home was doxed, he was arrested for battery for pepper-spraying and pushing an activist, taking her phone. In December 2024, Fuentes survived an apparent assassination attempt at his home by a 24-year-old man, who was killed by police after a shootout.
Early life and family
Nicholas Joseph Fuentes was born on August 18, 1998[1] to William and Lauren (néeChicco).[23] He has a twin sister.[24] According to Fuentes, he is of Italian, Irish and Mexican descent.[25][26][27][28] His father is half Mexican.[29] He grew up in La Grange Park, Illinois. He attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council.[30] He was raised Catholic.[31] Various sources have reported that his parents share Fuentes's racist views. His parents did not want to visit restaurants associated with Black people.[32] Fuentes began commentating on politics through a local radio and TV station hosted by his high school, where he initially shared libertarian and pro-Ted Cruz takes before moving to espouse mainstream conservative and pro-Trump views.[33][34]
He studied international relations and politics during his freshman year at Boston University,[35] but dropped out in connection with his attendance at the Unite the Right rally, a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He said afterwards he neither supported Nazism nor the man who drove into the crowd, but believed the violence from counter-protesters spurred violence in return. Fuentes, though proud to have attended the event, ultimately dropped out of Boston University after receiving death threats over his media persona, statements, and attendance of the rally. A former mentor of his stated that the response to his involvement with Unite the Right helped to raise his media presence.[30]
Fuentes dropped out in 2017 after completing his freshman year.[30][10] At this time, Fuentes faced pressure from his parents to pursue a more conventional path, such as getting a job or returning to college.[23] Fuentes told Louis Theroux of the proposal he made to his parents at that time: "'Why don’t you give me just one year to explore this. If it works out, I’ll keep doing it. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll abandon it.' … And it worked out."[23] Fuentes later stated in 2022, while being investigated by the January 6th Committee, that he went on to receive an associate's degree at the College of DuPage after dropping out of Boston University.
Live streaming
Fuentes began hosting the episodic live stream America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes, in 2017 during his freshman year at Boston University.[30]America First is characterized by Fuentes's frequent use of jokes and irony to appeal to Generation Z while providing plausible deniability for his often extreme views.[36] He denounced multiculturalism and stated that the white identity had been marginalized. However, he said he was not racist and supported nonviolence. During a show in April 2017, Fuentes "argued the First Amendment was not written for Muslims or immigrants".[30] He further stated "Who runs the media? Globalists. Time to kill the globalists" and "I want people that run CNN to be arrested and deported or hanged because this is deliberate."[37][30] Following these and other comments, as well as publicity over his attendance at the Unite the Right rally, he left Right Side Broadcasting Network in August 2017.[38][39] At the time, Seales remarked: "RSBN prides itself in our diversity, as we are a company loaded with folks from all different backgrounds. Nick was just taking things a little too far into right field for us."[38] One episode consisted of a monologue in which he implied he questions the death toll of six million Jews in the Holocaust. Fuentes later disputed that he had ever denied the Holocaust, calling his monologue a "lampoon".[26]NPR cited this as an example of Fuentes's use of irony to avoid consequences for his words, citing a 2020 video where Fuentes said, "Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views", specifically regarding Holocaust denial.[36]
Fuentes initially live-streamed from the basement of his parents' home, which was considered central to his public persona as a NEET (not in employment, education, or training) or a disconnected youth. He relocated his livestreaming operations from his parents' basement to an apartment in Berwyn, Illinois, in November 2020. Despite telling viewers he was still working from his parents' home, police records and neighbor accounts suggest he operated from the Berwyn property. His father frequently oversaw renovations at the complex, particularly on the second floor, where Fuentes established a new podcasting studio.[23]
He co-hosted the Nationalist Review podcast with another white nationalist, James Allsup,[40] until January 2018. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) noted in a report, "the two [Allsup and Fuentes] had a public falling out with each host accusing the other of laziness, impropriety and a variety of petty slights".[41] Fuentes spoke at the American Renaissance conference in April 2018.[42] Fuentes collaborated with Alex Jones to launch his own live-streaming platform, Cozy.tv, in October 2021.[43][34]
Fuentes has appeared on several other podcasts and streams, amassing millions of views on YouTube, Rumble, and Kick. He has primarily appeared on podcast episodes with fellow right-wing conspiracy theorist Myron Gaines, appearing on his Fresh & Fit episodes alongside his co-host Walter Weekes, as well as on debates and discussions hosted by streamer Adin Ross.[44] He is also a regular guest on Alex Jones' show, Infowars. As Fuentes' influence continued to rise in 2025, he also began to appear on more mainstream podcasts, the most notable examples being Patrick Bet-David's PBD podcast, Bradley Martyn's Raw Talk, the Sam Hyde Show, and the Nelk Boys' Kick stream, which went viral due to its occurring immediately after the Nelk Boys' interview of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Fuentes called disastrous and connecting to Netanyahu coming on their show to "get all the young conservatives, the streaming types to try to get back to the pockets of Israel." [45][46]
By 2019, America First had attracted a cult following, which refer to themselves as "Groypers".[26] The movement consists of primarily young, online activists known for their alt-right views.[26] Fuentes has organized the Groypers to challenge mainstream conservative figures, notably during the 2019 "Groyper Wars", where they disrupted events hosted by Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and others with provocative questions on immigration, Israel, and cultural issues. Fuentes had repeatedly criticized 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 2019, 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] According to Mother Jones, These campaigns frequently involved asking questions that prompted viewers to look up far-right and antisemitic conspiracy theories and hoaxes online.[48] Fuentes characterized the campaign as a grassroots effort to expose TPUSA as ideologically inconsistent with the ideology espoused by Donald Trump and other right-wing populists. As a result 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] At a book release event, Groypers shouted down Donald Trump Jr until he ended the event early.[50] In December 2019, Fuentes confronted conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro outside a TPUSA event in West Palm Beach, Florida. Shapiro was walking with his wife and young children when Fuentes asked why he had delivered a speech at Stanford University criticizing him.[26]
2025 criticism of Erika Kirk and Tucker Carlson
Fuentes has publicly criticized Erika Kirk's response to her husband Charlie Kirk's assassination by a sniper on September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University, stating on a Rumble stream that he is "getting this vibe from her that she’s very fake." He highlighted her appointment as CEO of Turning Point USA, just 72 hours after the death and an Instagram video of her weeping over Charlie's open casket, which was referred to by Fuentes as filming his "dead body" as pushing boundaries and gratuitous. [51]
He also criticized Tucker Carlson's eulogy at Charlie Kirk's memorial, misrepresenting Carlson's biblical comparison of Kirk's death to Jesus Christ's by paraphrasing it as "Charlie Kirk told the truth. You know who else told the truth? Jesus. And you know what happened? He got killed by Jews" as a direct anti-semitic rant and calling it "overkill." On a September 24 Rumble stream, Fuentes accused Carlson of gaslighting by denying antisemitism in his remarks, stating that Carlson is "too antisemitic", despite previously believing that Carlson was "insufficiently so" by framing issues as solely a "Zionist problem" (such as "We have a Netanyahu problem, we have a Zionist problem") rather than a "Jewish problem."[52]
Fuentes was among a group of far-right activists and groups who received large donations in bitcoin from a French donor on December 8, 2020. Fuentes received 13.5 bitcoin (approximately $681,750 at the time), which was by far the largest share. The donor also posted an apparent suicide note, according to blockchain analysis group Chainalysis. The donor's status has not yet been confirmed.[57][58][59][60] 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.[61]
On December 12, 2020, at a rally the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear 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 country. All these people that have taken over our country—we do 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."[62]
On January 4, 2021, Fuentes discussed killing state legislators who were unwilling to overturn the results of the 2020 election, saying, "What can you and I do to a state legislator—besides kill them? We should not do that. I'm not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?"[54][53][63][64]
According to several media outlets, Fuentes was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol.[65][66] The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Fuentes was "visible in both livestreams and images amidst a mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists...wearing what appears to be a VIP badge".[67] Although he did not enter the building, he allegedly shouted encouragement for the rioters to "Keep moving towards the Capitol – it appears we are taking the Capitol back! ... Break down the barriers and disregard the police. The Capitol belongs to us!"[68][67][10]
Fuentes has been banned from numerous social media platforms, financial services, and e-commerce providers since 2020, with most actions attributed to violations of policies on hate speech and related content. In January 2020, Fuentes was the most-viewed live streamer on the DLive platform.[70][71] Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his DLive channel was permanently suspended.[72][63] Fuentes's YouTube channel was also 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.[73][74] On February 14, 2020, his YouTube channel was terminated for violating policies on hate speech.[75]Twitter was among the last mainstream social media sites to ban Fuentes, indefinitely suspending his verified account in July 2021.[76][77][78] He has also been banned from financial and e-commerce services, including PayPal, Venmo, Patreon, Shopify, Stripe, Streamlabs, and Coinbase.[34] According to ABC News in March 2021, Fuentes had been suspended from "almost all" social media platforms.[79] Fuentes claimed that his bank account had been frozen, that he had been placed on a federal no-fly list,[80] and that he had been banned from Airbnb, Facebook, and Instagram. Fuentes described these actions as "overt political persecution".[10] In December 2021, the social media platform Gettr permanently suspended Fuentes. The site received backlash from Fuentes's fanbase as well as from the Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, who wrote, "What is the point of a free-speech alternative to Twitter... that doesn't even honor free speech?"[81] Gettr subsequently banned all use of the word groyper on the platform.[82]
Reinstatements
On January 25, 2023, his verified Twitter account was briefly reinstated. According to a senior researcher at the SPLC, he immediately praised Adolf Hitler and the Unabomber and declared, "Jews run the news". Twitter banned him again the next day.[83] In May 2024, following an announcement by Elon Musk, Fuentes's X (formerly Twitter) account was reinstated.[84] 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." The ADL condemned Musk's decision, to which Musk addressed the backlash by stating, "It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than to grow simmering in the darkness."[85][86][87] Since his return to X, Fuentes has grown his follower base to 965,000. After Fuentes's bans from DLive and YouTube, America First moved to streaming on Rumble with approximately 500,000 viewers. This growth in popularity led to exchanges with Tucker Carlson and Jason Whitlock in which they recognized his ability to draw an audience.[29]
Fuentes, alongside Alex Jones, attempted to rejoin YouTube in September 2025 after it was revealed YouTube, alongside Rep. Jim Jordan, would be offering the reinstatement of all channels banned from the site due to political speech violations. However, Fuentes and Jones were both banned again just hours after creating new channels, as Rep. Jordan and YouTube's parent company hadn't started their program to unsuspend users yet.[88]
Fuentes was barred from the Hyatt Regency Orlando, in February 2021, where he attempted to "start a commotion" during the CPAC.[95]Newsweek reported that he was again removed from CPAC in July 2021 for harassing a journalist.[96][97]
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Fuentes cited the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump as an inspiration for America First.[10]America First is broadly considered an American foreign policy of nationalism and protectionism.
On November 22, 2022, 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".[104] Trump released a statement saying that after contacting him earlier in the week to arrange the visit, 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".[105]
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".[104] Trump also acknowledged advising West to drop out of the race.[104]
Members of the meeting gave contradictory accounts[106] of what occurred.[107] According to Axios:[108]
...a source stated that Trump "seemed very taken" by Fuentes and "impressed that the 24-year-old was able to rattle off statistics and recall speeches dating back to his 2016 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 2024 campaign announcement speech. Trump responded, "You like 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. "There was a lot of fawning back and forth," the source added.[108]
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."[109]
The meeting received significant attention and comment from domestic and international political figures.[110][7][111][112] The nature of the event—in which a former president hosted guests with open antisemitic beliefs—was considered "unprecedented"[113] 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.[114] The scandal raised questions over Trump's tenability as a candidate in the 2024 election.[115][116][117][118] 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".[119] Commentators and politicians argued Trump's failure to condemn antisemitism and racism from the guests was an implicit acceptance of their beliefs.[120]
Trump defended the dinner in a Truth Social post, writing about West: "we got along great, he expressed no anti-Semitism, & I appreciated all of the nice things he said about me on 'Tucker Carlson'" and "why wouldn't I agree to meet?", and that he "never met and knew nothing about" Fuentes.[121] According to The Washington Post, Trump initially believed that the events of the evening would "blow over". However, by December 1, the actions of West and Fuentes after the dinner had changed his mind.[122]
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."[123]Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the meeting a "mistake".[112] In a follow-up interview, Netanyahu stated: "...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."[124]
Groyper War 2
In August 2024, Fuentes began a "digital war" against Trump's presidential campaign, which he dubbed "Groyper War 2".[125] The Daily Dot reported that after poor polling for Donald Trump, Fuentes began calling on his followers to "bring the energy with memes, edits, replies, and trolls" aimed at pressuring Trump's campaign to adopt further-right positions on race and immigration, as well as urging Trump to fire his campaign advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.[126] In addition to directing his followers to make their demands trend on X (formerly 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.[125] Fuentes said Vance was "the end state of Trumpism, a complete fabrication who was created in a lab by Peter Thiel".[29]
Shortly after initiating this effort, Fuentes took credit for Trump's rehiring of Corey Lewandowski as a senior campaign advisor in August, although Lewandowski was ultimately told to focus on staying in the role of a surrogate for the campaign in October after reportedly losing a power struggle regarding Trump's campaign.[127] Fuentes said he would not vote for Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. He questioned whether Vance would "support white identity", since Vance's wife is of Indian heritage.[128][129] Vance said Fuentes was a "total loser" in response, and indicated the Trump campaign would not listen to him.[125] Conservatives, including Fuentes himself, largely agreed that he had little influence on Trump himself.[29]
Disillusionment with Trump
In November 2024, 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 golem", and characterized Trumpism as "a giant cult-like scam".[130]
He doubled down on his negative opinion on Trump in 2025, insulting Trump shortly after both his refusal to release the Epstein files and his implied disdain for supporters of his that called for the release of said files, before stating that the "liberals were right", and that "when we look back on the history of populism in America, we are going to look back on the MAGA movement as the biggest scam in history".[131]
Relationship with Kanye West
Involvement with 2024 presidental campaign
In late 2022, Fuentes shifted away from his longtime position of supporting Donald Trump and instead, alongside many of his supporters, began promoting Kanye West's presidential campaign alongside fellow alt-right conspiracy theorists Milo Yiannopoulos[132] and far-right streamer Sneako.[133]
On November 28, 2022, political commentator Tim Pool interviewed West, Fuentes, and Yiannopoulos regarding West's campaign.[134] Pool pressed West and Fuentes with an article posted by Mike Pence stating that Trump was wrong for allowing anti-Semitic people to eat with him at dinner, referencing the two's dinner with Trump 6 days earlier, and demanded that the two apologize, which they refused to do, before eventually walking off during the interview.[135] In a December interview with Alex Jones, the two garnered significant controversy after West declared that he "loves" Adolf Hitler and denies the Holocaust. Fuentes, while not directly commenting on West's remarks, shared his agreement with West's views throughout the interview..[136][137] On December 5, 2022, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes interviewed West alongside Fuentes, with the duo asserting that Hitler's reputation was "crafted by Jews." West also endorsed Fuentes' beliefs by stating that society needed to be structured around a Christian government, and that media in the United States needed to be controlled by Christians.[138]
Following controversies regarding Fuentes' supposed involvement in allegations based around another Kanye supporter, Ali Alexander, West fired Fuentes and Alexander from his campaign with the help of Yiannopoulos, who had been rehired after initially leaving Ye's team following his comments in the Jones and McInnes interviews.[139][140]
2025 reunion
Upon West's release of the controversial song "Heil Hitler", which Fuentes witnessed the production of during a Kick stream hosted by Sneako and producer Digital Nas in April, he stated that the song would become the "song of the summer," before remarking, "Imagine 50,000 people in a stadium on their feet singing every word. This is where it's going." [141]
Views and opinions
Alt-right, nationalism, and white supremacy
Fuentes espouses alt-right, white nationalist, and anti-immigration views that emphasize racial and religious identity, opposition to multiculturalism, and criticism of mainstream conservatism. Fuentes calls himself a "reactionary," stating that he wants to turn the Republican Party into "a truly reactionary party".[142][43] The SPLC and ADL say he hopes to have the alt-right displace conservatism and the GOP, and has criticized mainstream conservative groups, stating that "Christian Republican voters get screwed over" because "the GOP is run by Jews, atheists, and homosexuals".[10][43] In June, Tess Owen, a reporter for Vice, wrote that Fuentes "has positioned himself as the kingpin of the ultranationalist youth movement".[6]
These positions extend to his views on race and national identity, where Fuentes has promoted white nationalist and supremacist themes. Fuentes strongly opposes immigration, which he believes is a demographic threat to the United States.[143][bettersourceneeded] Fuentes has spoken positively of "a tidal wave of white identity" following his attendance at the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and sees America's "white demographic core" as central to the country's identity.[43][144][30] Fuentes has discussed the white genocide conspiracy theory.[145] He said the term white supremacist is an "anti-white slur".[146] Fuentes wants the United States to be a white, Christian country and has specified that it is not a "Judeo-Christian" country, according to the SPLC.[43] On the podcast, Fuentes has stated: "Jews are running society, women need to shut the fuck up, Blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part, and we would live in paradise; it's that simple."[147] Fuentes continued with, "But the older I get, the more I realize it is really this simple. We need white men in charge of everything again".[147]
Catholic nationalism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia
Fuentes holds antisemitic views[11][12] and denies the Holocaust.[17] He has also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories against Jews and called for a "holy war" against them.[11][150] He said that "Jews stood in the way" of overturning Roe v. Wade, 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 back on the menu, and basically we're having something like Taliban rule in America, in a good way".[151][152] Fuentes frequently praises Adolf Hitler.[153] During his speech at AFPAC 2022, Fuentes bestowed "giggling praise" on Hitler.[101] In 2025, Fuentes claimed that his antisemitic views had toned down as he aged, though the New York Times stated that "A review of Mr. Fuentes's recent remarks indicates otherwise."[29]
He described the religion of Islam as "a barbaric ideology that [wants] to come over and kill us".[13] During a show in April 2017, Fuentes "argued the First Amendment was not written for Muslims or immigrants".[30]
Foreign policy views and support for authoritarian regimes
Fuentes' foreign policy views praise authoritarian regimes and movements that oppose U.S. influence. On March 10, 2022, Fuentes praised "czar Putin" for the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[154] which he claimed was to "liberate Ukraine from the Great Satan and from the evil empire in the world, which is the United States".[99] The AFPAC event in 2022, led by Fuentes, was marked by support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. One expert on the far-right stated, "the common thread is this idea that because of western European and US influence on Ukraine, Ukraine was a place where the same perceived downfalls of western society existed."[98] During his speech, Fuentes praised Hitler, and said that the media had been comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler "as if that wasn't a good thing".[101] 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!"[98] After the conference, Fuentes led a prayer for Russia's forces in Ukraine.[99] He also ridiculed Kamala Harris for claiming that Russia was committing war crimes. Fuentes spread lies about death counts and Russia's motivations for the war.[99]
Fuentes has in the past shown support for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, saying in 2022, "I want China to take back Taiwan, I want Russia to take back Ukraine, if for no other reason than it's time for America to be humiliated."[154]
Fuentes has praised the conservative religious aspect of Islamist Taliban governance.[155][156][157][158][152] He has been described as having "disdain" for Muslims, but he states that his goal is "Catholic Taliban rule" in the United States.[145] After the Afghan government fell to the Taliban while American forces were withdrawing in August 2021, Fuentes posted on the Telegram messaging service, "The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the US is godless and liberal. The defeat of the US government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development."[158]
Fuentes is a vocal critic of Israel and U.S. support for the country.[159] He stated that the United States should withdraw support for Israel because, "We're European, they're ethnically Jewish".[160] He claimed that the October 7 attacks were staged to "justify Israel's unfolding war to destroy Iran and its proxies".[161]
Fuentes has espoused beliefs, portraying women as inferior. Fuentes told the British journalist Louis Theroux that he believes it would be better if women did not have the right to vote.[165] In July 2023, appearing on the Fresh and Fit Podcast, Fuentes stated that women were "baby machines" because "that's what their brains are about".[166] He has stated that the optimal age for a wife is 16, which he states is "right when the milk is good".[145] He has spoken out against the "LGBT agenda",[167] and has described transgender people and same-sex marriage as "deviancy".[1]
He has defined his own identity through involuntary celibacy, 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.[168][169] 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 need cuddles. I need kisses... I need to spend time with a woman.'"[170][171][172]
Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Fuentes praised the Supreme Court of the United States for handing down that decision.[151] In November 2024, after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Fuentes mocked supporters of reproductive rights, tweeting, "Your body, my choice. Forever" (a brash spin on the freedom of choice slogan "My body, my choice").[173] The phrase became popular on TikTok,[174] 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 report detailing the exponential increase of the phrase's usage on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit on the day after the 2024 elections. They also noted instances of its usage offline, specifically on high school and college campuses.[175]
Legal issues and controversies
Battery arrest
On November 10, 2024, Marla Rose, an activist from the city, 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 film the interaction.[176] Following this incident, Fuentes was arrested on November 27 and charged with battery; he appeared in court on December 19.[177][178]
Ali Alexander underage sexual misconduct allegations
In 2023, Fuentes and associates were involved in a scandal about Fuentes' friend, Ali Alexander. Two accusers, seventeen and fifteen years old, respectively, stated Alexander asked for pornographic images and encouraged sexual intercourse.[179] One accuser said he believed Fuentes was "100 percent aware" of the alleged situation, yet did not intervene at the time. The other accuser said, "Nick personally asked me to apologize to Ali for supposedly faking the messages."[179] Fuentes denied the allegations.[179] U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene requested an FBI investigation, stating, "This is disgusting textbook predation of underage boys. And Nick Fuentes was in on it."[179][180][181]Milo Yiannopoulos, a "one-time Alexander ally", alleged he sent a text to Fuentes in January 2022, which read, "Alexander wants to come to your events to have sex with underage boys. Snap out of it."[179][182][183]
Alexander later apologized.[179][183][184] He also said he was targeted by "fake accusers or literal honey pots eager to frame me",[183] and that some of the claims were "defamatory and false".[184] He further stated "nothing unlawful has occurred".[183]
Doxxing and alleged murder attempt
In November 2024, the address of Fuentes' Berwyn, Illinois, home was doxed on Twitter in response to Fuentes mocking abortion advocates in his tweet "Your body, my choice".[185]
A photo of the shooter, 24-year-old John Lyons, outside Fuentes' home
On December 18, 2024, at 11:30 P.M. (CST), a man armed with a pistol and a crossbow showed up at his home.[186] The man, identified as 24-year-old John Lyons of Westchester, was suspected of killing a mother and her two adult children[187][188] 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 commands and exchanged gunfire with them before being fatally shot.[189][190][191] Fuentes made a statement on his X account, writing, "Last night 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!"[186]
Media coverage
In 2022, BBC Two produced a docuseries episode by Louis Theroux, Forbidden America: Extreme and Online, in which Fuentes is prominently featured as part of an exploration of the American far-right online subculture.[192]
Sommer, Will (February 27, 2021). "GOP Rep. Appears at White Nationalist Event Where Organizer Calls Capitol Riot 'Awesome'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 5, 2021. A sitting member of Congress appeared at a white nationalist convention Friday night, marking new GOP support for the racist movement. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spoke in Orlando, Florida, at the America First Political Action conference, a far-right event meant to mimic the establishment Republican Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Hansen, Ronald (March 27, 2021). "Rep. Paul Gosar speaks at white nationalist event in Florida, skips in-person D.C. votes". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 2, 2021. A sitting member of Congress appeared at a white nationalist convention Friday night, marking new GOP support for the racist movement. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spoke in Orlando, Florida, at the America First Political Action conference, a far-right event meant to mimic the establishment Republican Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Sommer, Will (February 27, 2021). "GOP Rep. Appears at White Nationalist Event Where Organizer Calls Capitol Riot 'Awesome'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 5, 2021. A sitting member of Congress appeared at a white nationalist convention Friday night, marking new GOP support for the racist movement. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spoke in Orlando, Florida, at the America First Political Action conference, a far-right event meant to mimic the establishment Republican Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
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