White nationalist Nick Fuentes—the self-proclaimed leader of the “America First” movement— called out former President Donald Trump for his "betrayal" of his supporters after he admitted that he "lost" the 2020 election "by a whisker."
Fuentes' words came after Trump said the following in response to a question from podcaster Lex Fridman about his expectations for his debate next week against Vice President Kamala Harris:
"I've done a lot of debating ... I've done well with debates. I became president and then the second time I got millions more votes [than I] got the first time."
"I was told if I got 63 million, which is what I got the first time, 'You would win. You can't not win.' And I got millions more votes than that and lost by a whisker but look what happened to the world with all the wars and all the problems."
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
A frustrated Fuentes pointed out that Trump's comments directly contradicted everything he had been saying over the past four years, effectively undermining the entire rationale behind the "Stop The Steal" movement.
He said:
“So, why did we do Stop the Steal? Why did anyone go to January 6? Why is anyone sitting in jail?"
"Why did anything bad happen to anybody? Why did everyone get censored? Why is everything bad that has happened to the people that were involved, why did that need to happen if you’re just going to walk it all back and say, ‘Oh, I lost’?”
“Well, it would have been good to know that before 1,600 people got charged. It would have been good to know that before I had all my money frozen, [was] put on the No Fly List, [got] banned from everything, lost all banking and payment processing."
"It would have been good to know that before I, in 2017, dedicated my life to this as an 18 year-old in college. It just feels like a big ripoff. And don't get me wrong, I'm an adult, it's not whining, I'm not complaining about it, I'm saying you can't say those things for that reason."
He added:
"Don't get me wrong, I don't regret anything. We all make our choices and look, it didn't work out. It is what it is. I'm not saying I want those years back, I want those decisions back. I'm not saying that."
“It just goes to show what a tremendous betrayal it is. It’s just such a callous indifference to the sacrifices that his supporters made on his behalf.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Fuentes' rant exposed him to immediate mockery and criticism.
Once an ardent supporter of Trump, Fuentes' admiration has waned, particularly after Trump chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance—who has a non-white, non-Christian wife—as his running mate. Fuentes has referred to Vance as a "race traitor" for having "a non-white wife" and "a mixed-up family."
Previously on his program, Fuentes outlined several demands for the Trump campaign to meet if they wish to avoid him and his followers “formally declaring war.” These include a full ban on all immigration, a pledge to avoid conflict with Iran, and the removal of campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.
If these conditions are not fulfilled, Fuentes threatened to mobilize activists in swing states to urge Republicans to "refrain from voting."
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC