Nick Fuentes is an American far-right activist and media commenter. Fuentes is leader of the “Groyper” movement, a toxic online community that frequently espouses anti-trans views,
Background
Nicholas Joseph Fuentes was born on August 18, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois, to William and Lauren (Chicco) Fuentes. Fuentes lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School. Fuentes dropped out of Boston University in 2017 after attending the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. After planning to transfer to Auburn University in Alabama, Fuentes “did not confirm” enrollment.
Fuentes is Catholic, and identifies with the traditionalist Catholic movement. Fuentes identifies as an incel (“involuntary celibate”).
After Fuentes’ home address was revealed online, Fuentes had visits from activist Marla Rose as well as John Lyons, who showed up with weapons and was subsequently killed by police.
In 2019, Fuentes hosted the Groyper Leadership Summit as an alternative to the Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit. In 2020, Fuentes founded the America First Political Action Conference. Fuentes was actively involved in events surrounding the 2021 United States Capitol attack on January 6. Fuentes acknowledged being present but denied engaging in criminal activity. On November 22, 2022, Donald Trump hosted Fuentes and Kanye West for a dinner at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago residence. According to an article in Axios:
…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.
Fuentes repeatedly criticized Turning Point USA and 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.
In May 2024, Elon Musk reinstated Fuentes’ account on X, “provided he does not violate the law.”
Anti-transgender activism
In 2017, Fuentes began the livestream America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes, produced by Right Side Media. Fuentes and James Allsup hosted Nationalist Review until January 2018. In April 2018, Fuentes spoke at the white nationalist American Renaissance conference.
In a 2021 piece by Juwan J. Holmes, Fuentes was qouted as saying:
“Maybe they show the health secretary and Lil Nas X and the drag queens and everything,” Fuentes continued, referring to Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender official confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He swears that this “would be a killer” because it would be a “real conversation that would happen.”
In a 2023 piece for People for the American Way, Kristen Doerer quoted Fuentes:
“Transgenderism has got to go because it’s not true,” Fuentes says, agreeing with The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, who earlier that day had called for the eradication of “transgenderism.” “Well, in that case, feminism has got to go, too. Liberalism has got to be eradicated.”
“At the end of the day you know what else has got to go in a Christian society?” Fuentes asks the crowd.
“Democracy?” a woman yells out from the audience.
“Well that,” Fuentes says. “The other thing that has got to go from the public life at the highest levels is this Talmudic Judaism.”
In a Guardian piece, Louis Theroux wrote:
Extreme and Online, the first episode of Forbidden America, is about a community of trolls and white nationalists whose mascot and leader, the diminutive streamer and broadcaster Nick Fuentes, tells me at one point it would be better if women didn’t have the vote. He says he views homosexuality as “disgusting”. He has also made Holocaust-denying remarks in his online broadcasts. He was outside the Capitol on 6 January and is on record as praising the events of the day, viewing them as a blow for freedom and justice.
Ina 2025 New York Times profile, Robert Draper wrote:
Until a month or two ago, Nicholas J. Fuentes was regarded by right-wing influencers as a mosquito-like interloper whose lifeblood was attention. Ignore his openly racist and sexist rants, their thinking went, and Mr. Fuentes would eventually flitter off into oblivion.
But today an entirely different consensus has emerged on the right. The footprint of the oratorically proficient late-night streaming show host has not dwindled in the least, with his tens if not hundreds of thousands of alienated young male conservatives followers known as Groypers, a nickname derived from an alt-right meme. If anything, his anti-Israel, anti-immigrant, anti-transgender and anti-civil-rights views seem to have gained new currency during the second Trump administration.
The American Jewish Committee noted:
Fuentes’ fans call themselves “Groypers,” the name of a green cartoon amphibian – maybe Pepe the Frog, possibly a toad – that has become a popular meme and calling card. In fact, new Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted out an example first thing Monday morning as news of Trump and West’s meal with Fuentes spread.
Groypers oppose immigration, gay and transgender rights, women’s rights, and limits to hate speech. They blame mainstream conservatives for destroying white America by not doing enough to safeguard traditional values. Like Fuentes, they traffic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial and accuse Jews of dual loyalty to Israel.
References
Mesa, Jesus (September 12, 2025). What Is a ‘Groyper’? What to Know About Nick Fuentes’ Alt-Right Movement. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/groyper-charlie-kirk-shooting-nick-fuentes-2129114
Draper, Robert (September 9, 2025). Nick Fuentes: A White Nationalist Problem for the Right. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/us/politics/nick-fuentes-trump.html
Rosenfeld, Arno (June 18, 2025). How far-right antisemitism is shaping the debate over U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. Forward https://forward.com/news/antisemitism-decoded/729811/far-right-israel-iran-trump-carlson/
DeMora, Bill (July 5, 2024). Opinion: A state rep supported a neo-Nazi the day after genital obsessed lawmakers target trans kids. Columbus Dispatch https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/07/05/jennifer-gross-support-of-neo-nazi-nick-fuentes-latest-danger-sign/74293476007/
Svitek, Patrick; Astudillo, Carla (October 12, 2023). Here’s who gets money from Defend Texas Liberty, the PAC whose leader met with white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Texas Tribune https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/12/defend-texas-liberty-pac-nick-fuentes-jonathan-stickland/
Doerer, Kristen (March 6, 2023). The White Nationalists at CPAC. People for the American Way https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/the-white-nationalists-at-cpac-2023?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Staff report (January 25, 2023). Who is Nick Fuentes and Why Is His Antisemitism Dangerous for America? American Jewish Committee https://www.ajc.org/news/who-is-nick-fuentes-and-why-is-his-antisemitism-dangerous-for-america
Yilek, Caitlin (November 29, 2022). How Republicans have reacted so far to Trump’s dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-nick-fuentes-mike-pence-gop-reacts/
Swan, Jonathan; Basu, Zachary (November 26, 2022). Trump talks with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago dinner. Axios https://www.axios.com/2022/11/25/trump-nick-fuentes-ye-kanye
Theroux, Louis (February 10, 2022). ‘They had their own cameras trained on me’ – Louis Theroux on his showdowns with US extremists. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/10/louis-theroux-showdowns-us-extremists-forbidden-america-white-nationalists-no-platforming
Staff report (July 8, 2021). Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know. Anti-Defamation League https://www.adl.org/resources/article/nicholas-j-fuentes-five-things-know
Holmes, Juwan J. (April 3, 2021). Far-right podcaster claims conservatives need to bash Lil Nas X & gay people more to win votes. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/04/far-right-podcaster-claims-conservatives-need-bash-lil-nas-x-gay-people-win-votes/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Derysh, Igor (November 11, 2019). Don Jr. storms out over far-right hecklers at event for his book about liberals “silencing” speech. Salon https://www.salon.com/2019/11/11/don-jr-storms-out-over-far-right-hecklers-at-event-for-his-book-about-liberals-silencing-speech/
Coaston, Jane (November 11, 2019). Why alt-right trolls shouted down Donald Trump Jr. Vox https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/11/20948317/alt-right-donald-trump-jr-conservative-tpusa-yaf-racism-antisemitism
Johnson, Roy S. (August 30, 2017). Alt-right’s Fuentes no longer with Right Side Broadcasting. AL.com https://www.al.com/news/2017/08/alt-rights_nicholas_fuentes_no.html
Resources
Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)
- Nick Fuentes
- splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nick-fuentes
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
IMDb (imdb.com)
- Nick Fuentes
- imdb.com/name/nm9585321
X/Twitter (x.com)
Rumble (rumble.com)