Just Who Is Welcome in the GOP?

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Just Who Is Welcome in the GOP?

Rep. Paul Gosar, Republican from Arizona, has long been criticized for his friendliness to the fringiest elements of the new right. Back in February, Gosar spoke at an “America First Political Action Conference” organized by Nick Fuentes, the young activist and leader of the online youth faction known as the “Groypers.” 

The association brought shouts of outrage. Fuentes and his fans style themselves the defenders of true Trumpian nationalism—protecting white America’s cultural heritage by slashing both legal and illegal immigration. Fuentes himself has a long history of controversial and xenophobic remarks, including sneering, half-ironic monologues denying the Holocaust, waving off a mass shooting in El Paso, insisting that America was better off under Jim Crow. At the AFPAC event, Fuentes followed Gosar with an openly white nationalist speech that bemoaned the country losing its “white demographic core.” He said: “this country wouldn’t exist without white people, and white people are done being bullied.”

Following the outcry, Gosar shuffled away from the association: “I denounce when we talk about white racism,” he told a CPAC panel later that month. This week, however, the controversy reared up again after Fuentes announced he would be holding a fundraiser with Gosar. 

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