So if you’ve kept up with this column you’ll notice that we are in the midst of a holy crusade against those who do nothing but fill our minds with garbage beliefs, destroy our ability to see what is true, and encourage our worst instincts.
We already covered Candace Owens and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In today’s edition, we feature the truly awful, 27-year-old Nick Fuentes. If you don’t know who Nick Fuentes is, I apologize for making you aware of his existence. Fuentes has about a million followers on Twitter and his “America First” show is regularly among the most streamed on Rumble – young men are listening to him.
Fuentes’ basic approach to life is, if there’s a despicable attitude or view he can take toward a group of people, or just in general, he will and he wears it like a badge of honor. He says things like, “Yeah I gotta find my 16-year-old wife.” He detailed his reasons for why he wants to marry a minor when he turns 30. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of real-life people did not think this was bad enough to stop supporting him.
He regularly denies the Holocaust and praises Hitler saying things like, “he’s really f— cool.” He has stated that Black people are genetically inferior to White people and referred to Chicago as “[n-word] hell.” He repeatedly advocates for cleansing America of all non-Whites and stated that segregation was “better for them” and “better for us”.
He stated that “we need to go back to burning women alive,” that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote or go to college, and, speaking directly to men, “Your wife is your dominion. You own her and she’s subject to you … Women should be treated like children, not like your buddy.”
Fuentes and his followers (nicknamed Groypers) identify as incels (involuntary celibates) which would explain the hatred toward women.
If you look at Fuentes’ claims and positions they’re all very simplistic and by the looks of it, they have to be simple for him to be able to grasp them. You know, all races are bad except mine, all religions are bad except mine, all women are dumb, and so on and so forth. Simple thoughts for a simple mind.
More concerning is the trend that Fuentes is exemplifying. It’s a trend where many young men are no longer responsive to existing social pressures against indulging in the worst attitudes one can have.
Normally, individuals would feel some amount of shame about being perceived as a racist or a bigot. They would deny it and claim that they have been misinterpreted or maybe try to hide their racism – no longer. These young men are leaning into their uninhibited bigotry, proudly proclaiming themselves racists and misogynists.
We’ve gotten some recent examples of how this mentality works with the leaked Young Republicans group chat where GOP leaders praised Hitler, called Black people “monkeys” and “watermelon people” and referred to rape as “epic.” President Trump’s now-withdrawn nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel Paul Ingrassia also had his chats leaked where he bragged about having Nazi tendencies and compared Martin Luther King Jr. to George Floyd.
It seems that young men on the right are having competitions to see who can express the most repulsive attitudes and there is no shame in sight. And why would they be ashamed when nothing matters anymore and the Vice President calls your critics pearl clutchers. These so-called Christian Nationalists are nothing more than simple nihilists with no moral compass.
As for Fuentes, the real tragedy is that he is just another victim of the modern internet landscape where there is an audience for every ridiculous belief. When you have millions of devoted followers, it directly confirms to people like Fuentes that they should continue to act and believe as they do.
After reading his quotes above you may be thinking how utterly outrageous it is to label him a victim. Make no mistake, living a life so consumed by hatred is miserable. Fuentes has turned himself into a moral monster with a profoundly abhorrent character – he’s rotting from the inside because that’s what happens when there is no attitude too disgusting to mutilate yourself with.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.