Key organizers for America First, the loose-knit crew of personalities that brought crowds of young white nationalists to “Stop the Steal” events following the 2020 election, publicly disavowed their leader Nick Fuentes in recent weeks.
Law enforcement, mainstream reporters and such groups as SPLC have paid closer attention to Fuentes since Jan. 6, 2021, when he rallied crowds of young, male extremists to pro-Trump events in the runup to the attack on the Capitol.
Faltering since Jan. 6, 2021
The public defection of key collaborators including McNeil and Dickerman is only the latest in a series of setbacks Fuentes and his followers have encountered since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Fuentes lost access to Twitter in July 2021 following a Hatewatch report about how the far right exploits that platform. YouTube had already suspended Fuentes on Feb. 14, 2020, and he also lost access to the youth-focused livestreaming site DLive in January 2021, representing a significant blow to his ability to make money, as Hatewatch previously reported.
Fuentes and his allies launched a livestreaming and fundraising hub called Cozy.TV, filled with many figures who have been suspended from mainstream social media sites. Fuentes needs that platform to succeed to have a chance of building a successful movement.
The House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Fuentes in January, and the extremist told his fans in May that he remains at the center of a federal criminal investigation.
McNeil and Dickerman described Fuentes as carrying a huge ego, comparing himself to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Jesus Christ and American rapper Kanye West. (Fuentes has described Stalin as his “hero.” Likewise, in another recent livestream, Fuentes described the criticism he faces as natural for “any creator, whether it’s God or me.”) McNeil and Dickerman also accused Fuentes of belittling his supporters.
Fuentes helped repackage white nationalism in the aftermath of the deadly Charlottesville, Virginia, “Unite the Right” event in 2017 by tying his personal brand to the presidency of Donald Trump. He recruited sitting members of Congress including Rep. Paul Gosar and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to his America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), which has run parallel to the bigger Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for each of the last three years, generating widespread media attention and also condemnation.
Fuentes, now 23, appeared at “Unite the Right” as a teenager. He possessed a smaller profile in 2017, and managed to avoid the legal pressure and scrutiny that white nationalist leaders like Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler faced in its aftermath. For a few years, Fuentes and America First sought to present a viable alternative to the so-called “alt-right” movement that started to fall apart due to infighting, financial troubles and other scandals following the murder of antiracist activist Heather Heyer in Charlottesville at that rally.
Now, over a year removed from the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Fuentes’ prospects have dimmed. Without accounts on mainstream social media websites and payment platforms, he has lost access to fans, and his fundraising ability has been sharply curtailed. Mismanagement and internal squabbles now plague his own organization, and his coalition is losing people. Fuentes’ story evokes comparisons to other figures of the racist right whose moment in the spotlight exposed apparent flaws.