Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American far-right[5] political pundit, activist, and live streamer who promotes white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic views.

[4][12][13] Collaborating with Patrick Casey, a former leader of the neo-Nazi organization Identity Evropa in 2019,[14] Fuentes' followers, known as Groypers, began to heckle Turning Point USA's Culture War Tour, including a speaking event for Donald Trump Jr.[15] In 2020, seeking to establish a white supremacist conference to rival CPAC, Fuentes began holding the annual America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC).

[16][17] Fuentes attended the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville,[18] and was also an attendee and speaker at events preceding the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

[19] He has encouraged the use of jokes and irony among white nationalist groups, stating that it "is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views".

The meeting was broadly condemned by commentators, and The New York Times described it as "what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more" for American Jews.

[22] Fuentes lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council.

[14] He dropped out in 2017 after completing his freshman year, stating that he received threats for attending the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

[37] The man, identified as 24-year-old John Lyons of Westchester, was suspected of killing a mother and her two adult children[38][39] in Mahomet earlier in the day.

"[43] Fuentes began commentating on politics through a local radio and TV station hosted by his high school, where he espoused mainstream conservative views.

[14] Fuentes has repeatedly criticized Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its 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.

[51] These campaigns frequently involved asking questions that prompted viewers to look up far-right and antisemitic conspiracy theories and hoaxes online.

[53] In December 2019, Fuentes approached the conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, who was walking by with his wife and young children, outside a TPUSA event in West Palm Beach, Florida.

[56][57] Fuentes hosted his second annual AFPAC event in February 2021, speaking alongside Malkin and the politicians Steve King and Paul Gosar.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the U.S. representative for Georgia's 14th district, attended the conference,[61][62] while Janice McGeachin, then the lieutenant governor of Idaho, and Gosar prerecorded videos that were played at the event.

AFPAC 2024 was cancelled by the venue, but they held an alternative event, also attended by Sulaiman Ahmed, an online anti-Israel commentator, and David Duke, formerly of the Ku Klux Klan.

[19][67] At a pro-Trump protest in Washington, D.C., in December 2020, Fuentes led a crowd to chant "Destroy the GOP" and encouraged them to sit out the United States Senate special runoff election in Georgia.

[74] On December 12, 2020, at a rally the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Texas v. Pennsylvania, Fuentes spoke to a crowd of supporters at Freedom Plaza, stating, "It is us and our ancestors that created everything good that you see in this country.

[79][80] The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Fuentes was "visible in both livestreams and images amidst a mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists...wearing what appears to be a VIP badge.

[18] Fuentes himself admitted being present during the attack but denied criminal conduct, describing rumors that an unidentified figure seen inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office was him as "fake news".

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 is willing to draw this barrage of opprobrium for one simple reason: He believes that he has tapped into something in the American electorate, especially among evangelical Christians, who have ingrained—but complicated—attitudes toward Israel and Jews.

In November 2024, after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Fuentes mocked supporters of reproductive rights, tweeting, "Your body, my choice.

On November 8, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue published a report detailing the exponential increase of the phrase's usage on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit on the day after the 2024 elections.

[131][132] Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his DLive channel was subsequently suspended permanently for "inciting violent and illegal activities".

According to Hannah Gais, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, he immediately praised Adolf Hitler and the Unabomber and declared, "Jews run the news".

The site received backlash from Fuentes' fanbase as well as from the American politician Wendy Rogers, who wrote, "What is the point of a free-speech alternative to Twitter ... that doesn't even honor free speech?

[140] Following the deplatforming from major providers such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and DLive, Fuentes collaborated with Alex Jones to launch his own live-streaming platform, Cozy.tv, in October 2021.

[14][141] According to leaked text messages obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch, Millie Weaver, an employee of InfoWars, previously warned Jones against partnering with Fuentes, alleging that several of his associates (chiefly Matthew Colligan) were informants for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and that partnering with him would negatively impact the sales of Jones's line of dietary supplements.

[142] On May 2, 2024, Elon Musk said that he would reinstate Fuentes' X (formerly Twitter) account "provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes."

Musk addressed backlash by those who expressed concerns about platforming Fuentes' ideas by stating, "It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than to grow simmering in the darkness.