Richard Spencer

Richard Bertrand Spencer is neither a Nazi nor alt-right, but simply in favor of white identity politics (if one believes Spencer). He is president of the a totally not racist white nationalist think tank in Arlington, and of Washington Summit Publishers (WSP), a Nazi-less "human biodiversity" outlet in Whitefish. Both institutions are "supporters of identity politics for White Americans", which is not at all like Nazism. He says it over and over, because he's NOT A NAZI, okay?! NPI has been dead-in-the-water since October 2020.National Policy Institute (archived from October 27, 2020). He also hosts AltRight.com (which is totally not related to Nazis), where Spencer is joined with fellow non-Nazis including Brittany A. Pettibone, Jared Taylor, and Lana Lokteff. He is an atheist.
In June 2022, Spencer reinvented himself as a "political moderate" and a centrist on "most issues" including abortion rights and gun control, although he uses pro-eugenics as a large basis for many of his current opinions. He claims he no longer identifies as a white nationalist.Richard Spencer disavowed white nationalism after being spotted on Bumble describing himself as a moderate, report says Business Insider 15 June 2022 Integrity First for America, who backed the plaintiffs in against Spencer and several other co-defendants, have expressed doubt that Spencer has genuinely repudiated his racist political views and point out "Spencer’s rebranding is just a way for him to avoid accountability because he lost a lawsuit as an organizer of the 2017 neo-Nazi Charlottesville riot that financially crippled him."White Supremacist Richard Spencer Now Calls Himself a ‘Moderate’ on Bumble The Daily Beast 15 June 2022 In November 2021, Spencer set up a diploma mill named ALEX University to presumably raise funds for his legal costs.
==Early life==
Spencer grew up in a privileged life, the son of Rand Spencer, an ophthamologist, and Sherry Spencer (née Dickenhorst), a Louisiana cotton farm heiress."Richard B. Spencer and the Alt-Right] by Tamir Bar-On (2019) In: Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy, edited by Mark Sedgwick. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190877590. Pages 224-241. As of 2017, Richard Spencer was still, along with his mother and sister, the "absentee landlords of 5,200 acres of cotton and corn fields in an impoverished, largely African American region of Louisiana", and were the beneficiaries of $2 million in federal farm subsidies.White Nationalist Richard Spencer Gets His Money From Louisiana Cotton Fields—and the US Government: White people built America, insists Spencer, who has benefited from $2 million in farm subsidies. by Lance Williams (March 17, 2017) Mother Jones. Spencer went to a top private school in Dallas, Texas, St. Mark's School of Texas, received a BA in English Literature and Music from the University of Virginia, an MA in Humanities from the University of Chicago, then dropped out of a PhD program at Duke University "to pursue a life of thought-crime."
New Zealand journalist Julie Hill claims to have learned German with Spencer when he was a PhD student and says that he could not cook so much as a piece of toast, being such a privileged and pampered manchild that he lived on restaurant meals and the leftovers he took home from them.I learned German with white supremacist Richard Spencer The Spinoff 12 November 2017 It remains unclear whether he learned to feed himself before tackling the independence of the "great white race."
==Everything's gonna be alt-reich==
Richard Spencer has said many non-Nazi things, non-Nazily. 
Richard Spencer once stated that "One wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem." For once, Spencer was referring to the media, not Jews.Controversial CNN Chyron: 'Alt-Right Founder Questions If Jews Are People' Snopes 22 November 2016 
===Cringe generator===
Richard Spencer is really, really, really fucking cringey. For example, please enjoy this vomit-inducing description of his interview with Mother Jones:
Spencer enjoys making the dumbest Tweets:
File:Richard Spencer Vampire Fursona.png|Richard Spencer describing his vampire fursona 9 July 2017
File:Richard Spencer Beautiful Politicians Marine LePen.png|Keep it in your pants, Dick. 7 February 2017 (Available at PolitiTweet Archive)
File:Richard Spencer at Chartlottesville Rally to "Save Jackson and Lee".jpg|Spencer stress-testing a blazer at a Charlottesville rally with his awful sense of fashion.
File:Richard Spencer Destroyed Skepticism Trillby.jpg|Spencer after (poorly) debating Sargon of Akkad (who was himself a laughable failure at all levels). 5 January 2018Richard Spencer, Styx and Sargon Have a Chat - Andy and JF moderate from the YouTube channel Andywarski 4 January 2018
Spencer thinks that football is bad because it encourages white people to admire black people.White Supremacist Richard Spencer Wants To Ban Football Because It Causes White People To Like Black People Uproxx 28 April 2017 In contrast, he drools at the chance to adore white football players. 5 February 2017 5 February 2017
===Great liberator===
Spencer hopes to use the anti-immigration bits of libertarianism (and the people it attracts) to gain support for his non-Nazi ideology. As a result, Spencer has been lurking in libertarian conferences for quite some time.Southern Poverty Law Center, "PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel to Address White Nationalist-Friendly “Property and Freedom Society” Conference in September", June 9, 2016.Richard Spencer kicks off the Fourth Annual HLMC Meeting The Mencken Club 6 May 2013 (Archived from the original archived on 7 May 2016) For whatever reason, the libertarians don't want him there.Fleck, Mike J., "BREAKING: Richard Spencer Kicked Out of ISFLC ’17 After Jeffrey Tucker Confrontation", The Libertarian Republic 2.18.17. We're sure it has nothing to do with Nazism -- just like Richard Spencer.
===Race fetish haver===
Not surprising that he is an Asianophile, like much of the Alt-Right. He may bash Asians in his podcasts, but he conceded a lukewarm acceptance of the growing number of who attend his white nationalist conventions.Radix Live! (1/14/16)—Millennial Woes from the YouTube channel NPI / Radix 14 January 2016 The irony is that Asian-Americans, if they survive these struggles, are 
When a co-streamer pointed out that YouTuber "Roaming Millennial" (who once interviewed Spencer) is multiracial, Spencer unleashed a presumably well-intentioned defense:Richard Spencer Talks About Roaming Millennial (Half Asian) from the YouTube channel White Flight 25 February 2018 
===EU supporter?===
Spencer wrote an article in his own journal criticizing Brexit and Euroscepticism, as well as described himself as "pro-EU" on a podcast a few days prior to the referendum.Spencer, Richard B. (May 25, 2016). ""Euro-Skepticism" Skepticism". Radix Journal. Retrieved March 11, 2017.Alt-Right and Brexit. The Washington Spectator. June 28, 2016. Spencer dislikes Nigel Farage and UKIP; he has said he has always been "highly skeptical of so-called 'Euroskeptics'". His reason for being pro-EU is as a racial pan-Europeanist (white nationalist), he opposes individual ethnic and cultural nationalisms within Europe and supports freedom of movement between European countries. Brexiteers have highlighted, in their view, problems with mass immigration from Poland (and other eastern-European countries) into the UK; Spencer in contrast says he supports large-scale immigration into the UK from Poland since the immigrants are white. His only opposition is to non-western immigration.
Despite his best efforts at waxing poetic about Europe, sadly, a good chunk of Europe (the twenty-six Schengen states including Poland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden), haven't reciprocated their love and has barred him from entry,CTV News. (November 22, 2017.) White nationalist reportedly banned from 26 European nations. The Associated Press. Retrieved November 23, 2017. with Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski declaring Spencer's views as defamation of the events in World War II including the Holocaust. This is not the first time Europe coldly rejected his love, previously barring him in 2014 after his temporary detention in Hungary for holding a gathering despite warning from officials that he and his ilk are unwanted.Hatewatch Staff.(October 06, 2014) White Nationalists Gather in Hungary, Richard Spencer Arrested. The Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
===Technology hater===
Spencer wrote in his Twitter account with a computer and a keyboard on the Internet criticizing technology, 4 February 2017 loathing Silicon Valley as "worshipping technology" being its end or the End Times. This may or may not be related to his inability to operate a toaster.
===Stalin apologizer?===
Richard Spencer denies that the man made famine in Ukraine under Joseph Stalin called the Holodomor was a genocide much to the ire of his white nationalist base who believed it was the "real Holocaust committed by Jewish Bolsheviks."Understanding Richard Spencer’s Holodomor Denial Center for a Stateless Society 18 May 2017
He does clarify however that he doesn't deny the famine was anthropogenic unlike many Stalin apologists such as Walter Duranty:
===Chapo Trap House lover?===
Richard Spencer has stated that he watches the far-left comedy podcast "Chapo Trap House" praising it for its "cynical and irreverent" comedy style which he views as similar to the alt-right's.Richard Spencer on Chapo Trap House from the YouTube channel Ramshackle Bootjammer 6 May 2018
===Mass murderer sympathizer===
Although Spencer did not quite go so far as to support the actions of alt-right-inspired mass murderer Dylann Roof in the stating in a since-deleted article that Roof should not be considered a "madman" and supporting Roof's manifesto, stating:Dylann Roof and Political Violence by Richard B. Spencer (June 23, 2015) Radix Journal (archived from June 24, 2015).Dylann Roof, the Radicalization of the Alt-Right, and Ritualized Racial Violence by Joel A. Brown (January 12, 2017) Sightings, The University of Chicago School of Divinity.
===Wife beater?===
During 2018 divorce proceedings, his wife Nina Koupriianova accused Spencer of repeated domestic violence and provided documentary evidence in court. Koupriianova divorce filings included tweets and photos of bruising alleging that she suffered "incidents of physical abuse include being hit, being grabbed, being dragged around by her hair, being held down in a manner causing bruising, and being prevented from calling for help."White Nationalist Richard Spencer’s Wife Says In Divorce Filings That He Physically And Emotionally Abused Her by Talal Ansari (Last updated on October 23, 2018, at 3:52 p.m. ET; Posted on October 23, 2018, at 3:02 p.m. ET) BuzzFeed News.White nationalist Richard Spencer accused of physically abusing wife throughout their marriage by Eli Rosenberg (October 24 at 12:36 AM) The Washington Post.You Should Care That Richard Spencer's Wife Says He Abused Her Huffington Post
===Genocide promoter===
Spencer has declared that he'll know white people have "gotten their spirit back" once they collectively reconquer all of Central Asia and in this process "he could care less" if every Turk was "thrown into the ocean" calling them a "dirty" people contaminating Constantinople with their presence.Archived version of the YouTube video where he said this 
And here's an article published on Spencer's website, titled "Is Black Genocide Right?"Is Black Genocide Right? Alternative Right 14 February 2012 (Archived from the original on 16 February 2012)
===Spencer on women===
In countless interviews, Spencer has promoted the notion that female sexual liberation creates a "bottleneck" which stratifies access to sex and improves society through informal eugenics.Destiny & Richard Spencer Debate Race, Religion, Andrew Tate, Joe Biden & More from the YouTube channel No Jumper 6 March 2023
Spencer has stated, "Women should never be allowed to make foreign policy. It's not that they're 'weak.' To the contrary, their vindictiveness knows no bounds." in reference to Hillary Clinton's 2016 candidacy for president.Women Shouldn't Have the Right to Vote, Says 'Alt-Right' Leader Richard Spencer by Michael Edison Hayden (Oct 14, 2017) Newsweek. Concurrently with his statement, Spencer's then-wife was helping him write editorials at the National Policy Institute.Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics by Elle Reeve (2024) ISBN 1982198893.‘Black Pill’ is a disturbing look at how ‘meme magic’ captured the GOP: Elle Reeve’s deeply reported book explores the slippery irony and dangerous absurdities at the heart of what was once the alt-right and is now Trump’s Republican Party. by Becca Rothfeld (July 10, 2024 at 4:23 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
Spencer was also somewhat opposed to women voting, saying, "I don't necessarily think that that's a great thing."
===Democrat?===
In 2020, Richard Spencer came out and endorsed Joe Biden for the November 2020 presidential election, saying that the "MAGA/Alt-Right moment is over" and that "we need to recover and return in a new form.""Richard Spencer Backs Joe Biden, Says 'MAGA/Alt-Right Moment is Over'" by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 2020 August 24 The Biden campaign forcefully disavowed this endorsement.'Absolutely repugnant': Biden's campaign forcefully disavows an endorsement from neo-Nazi Richard Spencer by Sonam Smith, Business Insider, 2020 August 24 Nevertheless, this has been used by wingnut media to try to smear Joe Biden and his campaign as having, somehow, an "embarrassing" double standard because they condemned white supremacy in Charlottesville and are now condemning white supremacy.O'Neil, T. (August 24, 2020). "As Team Biden Celebrates GOP Defectors, Richard Spencer Endorses Democrats" PJ Media. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
Spencer claims he had a political and intellectual rebirth sometime around or after the time he got sued for the Unite the Right rally. He now states he dislikes populism and that race supremacy politics are not worthwhile due to risk of violence. He also disliked the Trump era as being "lawless". He claims he appreciates the Democratic Party's lurch toward elitism. He claims most of the positions he holds are moderate liberal positions, such as pro-abortion and anti-gun-rights, but he defends much of his positions on the basis of eugenics.
During 2023, Spencer announced on a right-wing podcast that he "intends to vote for Joe Biden again". In the same interview, he stated his least favorite potential candidate is Ron Desantis, who he regards as too average, and also a sociopath.Richard Spencer, Stardust, Adam Green | Debate Panel | Host: Killstream | 2023-03-25 from the YouTube channel AɴɢᴇʟDᴜsᴛ 1 May 2023
Spencer endorsed Kamala Harris in August 2024 and said he was voting for her.https://archive.is/3IxaE The white nationalist Anatoly Karlin who shared a podium at a neo-Nazi conference with Spencer in 2016 has also endorsed Kamala.https://archive.is/3iGPZhttps://archive.is/u1lgJ Similar to Spencer, Karlin's sudden support for Kamala is based on elitism.https://archive.is/O8Dyg However, after seeing the Democratic National Convention, Spencer mused about endorsing Trump instead.Richard Spencer (August 22, 2024). "Watching the DNC is depressing. The parade of midwits like Elisa Slotkin, who now embrace the War on Terror as being about 'leaning forward' and 'getting involved.' I might endorse Donald Trump if only to actively bring about the end of America." Twitter, via archive.today.
==Everything's not gonna be alt-reich==
To no one's surprise, Spencer's not-Nazi statements and not-Nazi actions have managed to irritate a few people along the way.
===Punch receptor===
Richard Spencer was punched.Attack on Alt-Right Leader Has Internet Asking: Is It O.K. to Punch a Nazi? The New York Times 21 January 2017 In response, Spencer called for the alt-right to provide their own protection.After Being Punched by Anti-Trump Protesters, Richard Spencer Demands ‘Alt-Right’ Vigilante Force Forward 21 January 2017 It's a good thing that because Richard Spencer isn't a Nazi. 
===Lawsuit loser===
Spencer and his National Policy Institute played an active role helping to organize the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 2017."Charlottesville Groups Send Out 'Call to Action' Against Upcoming Rally", NBC29, 2017 July 28, archived at archive.org on 2017 August 7"William H. Regnery II, 80, Dies; Bankrolled the Rise of the Alt-Right" by Clay Risen, New York Times, 2021 July 16 Infamously, at this rally, a car driven by James Alex Fields Jr. plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters, murdering civil rights activist Heather Heyer and injuring 30 others."James Alex Fields, driver in deadly car attack at Charlottesville rally, sentenced to life in prison" by Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News, 2019 June 28
One of those who suffered severe life-crippling injuries from the Fields incident was a man named Bill Burke, who proceeded to sue multiple far-right individuals and organizations involved in the rally. In early May 2021, due to Spencer's active role in organizing the incident, a federal judge ordered the National Policy Institute to pay $2.4 million to Burke."Richard Spencer-led group ordered to pay $2.4 million to Ohio counterprotester struck by car at Charlottesville rally" by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press, 2021 May 6
===Exiled town wanderer===
Richard Spencer lives part-time in a small Rocky Mountains resort town called Montana, which is better known for being a gateway to than any sort of not-Nazi ideology. Even as early as 2014, the presence of Spencer and his National Policy Institute offices irked the town, who responded to his noxious presence by unanimously passing a resolution supporting diversity and tolerance."Whitefish Council Adopts Resolution Supporting Diversity, Tolerance" by Tristan Scott, Flathead Beacon, 2014 December 2
In 2016, a Jewish real estate agent named Tanya Gersh saw someone with a large camera take photographs of a commercial building owned by Sherry Spencer, Richard's mother. Assuming that this was someone from the press, she called friends who were tenants of Sherry to warn them that Sherry might end up receiving some unwanted attention due to Richard Spencer's not-Nazi dickery. Soon afterwards, Gersh received a call from Sherry, who claimed that she didn't believe in her son's ideologies, and asked what could she do to distance herself. Gersh recommended that Sherry sell the building, donate the proceeds to a human rights cause, and make a public statement on what she thinks about her son."Tanya Gersh Was the Target of a Neo-Nazi ‘Troll Storm.’ Then She Fought Back—and Was Awarded $14 Million." by Kate Storey, Esquire, 2019 August 29
Shortly afterwards, a post on that claimed to have been written by Sherry (although possibly written by Richard himself) accused Gersh of using blackmail tactics to try and get Sherry to sell her property. Naturally, Richard Spencer's pal Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer decided that the best way to help out his compadre was to doxx Gersh and other members (especially Jewish members) of the Whitefish community, along with accusing Gersh of being part of the "Jewish agenda" and promoting a false narrative that the Jews were taking over Whitefish and driving WASPs out. This resulted in many in Whitefish (especially Gersh) being flooded by a "troll storm" of angry, alt-right basement dwellers threatening violence via social media and emails, sometimes to the point of death threats."Neo-Nazi website founder forfeits defense in ‘troll storm’ suit by Whitefish family" by David Reese, Missoula News, 2019 May 1"How a small town silenced a neo-Nazi hate campaign" by Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 2021 September 5, reprinted in the Indian Express"Descending On A Montana Town, Neo-Nazi Trolls Test Where Free Speech Ends" by Kirk Siegler, NPR, 2018 January 23
To support the Spencers, Anglin announced a march in Whitefish planned for Martin Luther King Jr. day on 2017, tastelessly named as "The James Earl Ray Day Extravaganza"."Civil Rights Group Sues Daily Stormer Publisher After Readers Send Family Hundreds Of Threats" by Matt Ferner and Christopher Mathias, Huffington Post, 2017 April 18 In response to this, prior to the date of Anglin's planned rally, the town staged a large counter-rally denouncing the hate. On the scheduled day of Anglin's rally, not a single person showed up to support Anglin. In contrast, 350 people showed up to a get-together in support of unity, organized by Whitefish Rabbi Francine Green Roston (who was also a victim of Anglin's "troll storm"), in order to eat some delicious chicken and matzo ball soup.
In 2019, Gersh won a default judgement from Anglin for $14 million dollars due to his role in the trolling.
According to Whitefish leaders in 2021, due to the above events and Spencer's not-Nazi asshole behavior, Spencer is now an outcast in Whitefish, and is unable to get a table at many restaurants (or at least will be greeted by a chorus of boos.) Even in 2018, Spencer's reputation was bad enough that a bar owner in Whitefish (after Spencer's credit card was declined on a simple $4.25 bourbon order) posted the receipt on Facebook with a request for Spencer to "refrain from visiting our establishment in the future" because "it makes everybody feel real scummy"."Broke White Nationalist Richard Spencer Can’t Even Order a Cheap Drink" by Greg Morabito, Eater, 2018 May 9"White Supremacist's Card Declined in Whitefish", 96.3 The Blaze, 2018 May 8
==Russian asset==
Spencer's influences overlap closely with those of Vladimir Putin. Spencer's wife from 2010-2018, Nina Kouprianova, is Russian fascist philosopher Aleksandr Dugin's translator.The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder (2018) Tim Duggan Books. ISBN 0525574468.Richard Spencer and His Kook-Right Ilk Are Agents of Russian Influence by John R. Schindler (08/14/17 11:25am) The Observer. Dugin is a sycophantic supporter of Putin. Spencer is essentially a Russian asset, most likely unknowingly, i.e., a useful idiot.
To his credit, he did repudiate Russia for their invasion of Ukraine:https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/white-supremacists-other-extremists-respond-russian-invasion-ukraine
This led him to have a falling out with the Russian white nationalist Anatoly Karlin who used to attend alt-right events with Spencer.Worth noting that Spencer was denying the Holodomor and praising Putin back when he was imprisoning Russian nationalists and LDNR commanders were dying mysterious deaths. In this context, his pivot into Ukromania isn't the sea change from prior views he portrays it as. by Anatoly Karlin (11:02 AM · Mar 8, 2022) Twitter (archived from 8 Mar 2022 13:35:58 UTC).
==Stopped clock==
Despite being a batshit insane non-neo-nazi, Spencer has had a couple of moments where he has sanity. One instance is when he criticized Trump for threatening to bomb Iranian cultural sitesHigh-profile white supremacist forced out of anti-war rally by Pittsburgh protesters Pittsburgh City Paper 6 January 2020 (because he sees Iran as another fellow Aryan country, even though it's an actual Aryan country), and for the assassination of Soleimani, for which he disavowed Trump and stated that he regretted voting for him back in 2016.Donald Trump Loses Support of White Nationalist Richard Spencer Over Iran Fallout Newsweek 9 January 2020 He also praised the left for their collectivism ideology in a google hangouts meeting with Styxhexenhammer.RICHARD SPENCER, STYXHEXENHAMMER666 AND SARGON HAVE A CHAT - ANDY AND JF MODERATE from the BitChute channel CoffeeWithComment 5 January 2018 He also condemned and disavowed people and groups who supported the war in Ukraine, and expressed condolences for the civilians stuck in the crosshairs.White supremacists condemn Ukraine conflict as a ‘brother war’; some blame Jews The Times of Israel 5 March 2022
==Welp.==
 4 November 2019
The correct response to Spencer and to the alt-right is "wow, that's some fucking cringey racialist meme-non-Nazi bullshit".
==See also==
* Alternative Right — His blog.
* George Lincoln Rockwell — His predecessor, who was also charismatic and photogenic.Xavier meeting Magneto Dr. King meeting George in 1965. imgur
* What he desperately does not want to be
* Anatoly Karlin — white nationalist who has rebranded his politics similar to Richard Spencer's.
* Jesse Lee Peterson
* Kevin MacDonald — An influence on Spencer.Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy: A Critical Analysis of Kevin MacDonald’s Theory by Nathan Cofnas (2018) Human Nature 29:134-156. doi:10.1007/s12110-018-9310-x. Quote: "Richard Spencer, whom the New York Times calls 'the leading ideologue of the alt-right movement', introduced MacDonald at a conference with one sentence: 'There is no man on the planet who has done more for the understanding of the pole around which the world revolves than Kevin MacDonald'."
* Thomas Bertonneau
==External links==
* Richard Bertrand Spencer, SPLC
* Richard Spencer, ADL
* Poor Spence. He can't go to any of the nice places anymore. Antifa has his number.
==Notes==
==References==
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