Truth. Activism. Justice.

The White Nationalist, Nick Fuentes, was recently invited onto the Tucker Carlson show and  received international condemnation and scrutiny. During the interview, he openly acknowledged his admiration for Stalin, and expressed his belief that “organized Jewry” is to blame for most if not all the major issues plaguing America. He has built his platform by openly promoting libels about Jews and parrots classic antisemitic conspiracy theories about Israel all while using the cover of political commentary as a gateway to legitimizing Holocaust denial. 

He has previously commented “I love Hitler” and has gone on to say “Hitler was awesome. Hitler was right. And the Holocaust didn’t happen.” He  even jokingly compared the mass murder of Jews in gas chambers  to “baking cookies.”

His primary targets have appeared to be the right leaning population along with conservative Christian populations with the intent of radicalizing them at the detriment of the Jewish community and broader world. He appeals to Christian nationalists and puts “America First!” but the values and ideas he spreads are vehemently anti-Christian and utterly lack decency. His comments are often riddled with an “us-them” mentality and tone that inherently vilifies a group of people and encourages division. He has been growing an audience at a rapid rate because people aren’t stopping to critically analyze whether his worldview is sound. As Ben Shapiro recently said,“It is not a cancellation to draw moral lines between viewpoints. In fact, we used to call that one of the key aspects of conservatism.”

The great danger in his comments is how successful they are in making Holocaust denial mainstream in the media. 
A skeptical attitude toward basic facts about the Holocaust has been increasing outside of the now usual ring of deniers like  Candace Owens and Ian Caroll into a more vast and alarming issue. Fuentes has had an astonishing impact on younger populations as well. His fans, who tend to be young men, show the trend of trying to soften violent and racist messages with humor and vulgar cultural references. The thoughts Fuentes is attempting to normalize are dampening their ability to see how destructive his ideas are.  Recent polling from Anti-Defamation League found that out of the 103 countries and territories in the world they used in their study, less than half (48%) of the participants recognize the Holocaust’s historical accuracy. Holocaust denial is not only a horrendous lie, but is also inherently intertwined in conspiracies against Jewish people- they are an inseparable package. 

Holocaust historian and former US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, Deborah E. Lipstadt, argues that it stems from a root of antisemitism, rather than some “justified” reason. “This kind of denial arises out of a certain world-view based on prejudices, xenophobia, and nationalism.” Nick Fuentes, who openly admires Hilter and Stalin, has a worldview that in many ways resembles Nazi ideology, and the only way for the public to even be mildly swayed by that kind of horrendous thinking is to completely separate the atrocious crimes of the Holocaust from this kind of ideology. Many holocaust deniers are motivated to deny on these political grounds. 

Holocaust denial must be seen for what it truly is- an evil lie against a people who suffered greatly. It is clear that though he has claimed to be a person of faith, he does not portray the truth of Christ with his words or actions. Christians and conservatives eager for a change in America cannot fall prey to his deep seated bigotry. 

For young people everywhere, there are practical things we can do to help ourselves from the snare of these dangerous ideologies. We can: 

• Learn to question & break the cycle of disinformation 
• Recognize stereotypes and conspiratorial messaging
• Develop habits of critical evaluation 

When people come across content like that of Fuentes, they must ask themselves : do his comments encourage stereotyping or invoke conspiracy theories with antisemitic libels? How can the judgment of someone who denies the Holocaust, and thinks “Hitler was awesome” be trusted, let alone taken seriously? 

Society does not have to be doomed to the influence of dangerous figures like Fuentes. We must cultivate these mental and moral filters which is our duty as responsible citizens, and in this process we are fighting disinformation. Lies are not powerful in and of themselves- we give them power by believing in them- so we fight by growing our minds and encouraging others to do the same. 

Read this piece on The Times of Israel blog: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/nick-fuentes-arsenal-of-lies-exposed/ .