Noted white nationalist and Alt-Right figurehead Richard Spencer announced he will be throwing his support behind Democrat candidate Joe Biden for president in the November election after previously distancing himself from President Donald Trump.
The toxic figurehead of the alt-right movement sent out a tweet on Monday proudly declaring himself “on Team Joe,” before adding in a homespun campaign slogan, “Liberals are clearly more competent.” The openly white-nationalist leader is still allowed a Twitter account while the platform continues to permanently ban dozens of President Trump’s most prominent supporters. Spencer has been platformed by CNN and many other left-wing media.
After announcing his endorsement, Spencer then launched into a series of posts to clarify his support for Biden.
“The MAGA/Alt-Right moment is over. I made mistakes; Trump is an obvious disaster; but mainly the paradigm contained flaws that we now are able to perceive. And it needs to end,” Spencer posted. “So be patient. We’ll have another day in the sun. We need to recover and return in a new form.”
Spencer later continued, “I will never flip on my fundamental principles. (My principles were never voting for the supposed ‘the lesser of two evils’ or ‘stopping big government.’) […] Walking into certain defeat, even death, is not heroic. It’s foolhardy. I have no sympathy for martyrs. I admire winners.”
— Richard ?? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 24, 2020
Spencer first caught the public’s attention in 2016 by shouting “Hail Trump!” which was responded to with Nazi salutes from his followers at an event in Washington after Trump was elected president. The media have used Spencer’s support to stain Trump and Trump supporters by association ever since.
In the past Spencer has demanded a “peaceful ethnic cleansing” to create a “new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans.”
In August of 2017 Spencer was scheduled to be a featured speaker at the racially charged Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump outright condemned the racist demonstration and acts of violence, saying “the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
Earlier this year, Spencer began to distance himself from the “Trump Train” and has said that he regrets his vote for the president after the military action that resulted in the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Spencer criticized Trump’s approval of the air strike which brought Soleimani’s reign of terror to an end because he was afraid the military action would escalate hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.
“I deeply regret voting for and promoting Donald Trump in 2016,” Spencer told his followers. “To the people of Iran, there are millions of Americans who do not want war, who do not hate you, and who respect your nation and its history […] After our traitorous elite is brought to justice, we hope to achieve peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness,” he stated.
Newsweek reports that in 2017 Spencer also led a demonstration against Trump for an airstrike launched on a Syrian airbase.
After the endorsement from the white nationalist leader, Biden’s campaign scrambled to disavow Spencer.
“When Joe Biden says we are in a battle for the soul of our nation against vile forces of hate who have come crawling out from under rocks, you are the epitome of what he means,” rapid-response director for the Biden campaign Andrew Bates sent out in a tweet. “What you stand for is absolutely repugnant. Your support is 10,000% percent unwelcome here.”
When Joe Biden says we are in a battle for the soul of our nation against vile forces of hate who have come crawling out from under rocks, you are the epitome of what he means. What you stand for is absolutely repugnant. Your support is 10,000% percent unwelcome here. https://t.co/86reJEoTCd
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) August 24, 2020
Biden has been highly criticized for remarks he made about black people. He once referred to integrating schools as sending his children into a “racial jungle.” Earlier this year, he implied black people were not as diverse as other ethnic groups, “Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.” Biden also famously quipped in an interview that “you ain’t black” if you do not vote for him.