Trump's Iran brinksmanship has lost him alt-right leader Richard Spencer
Richard Spencer is probably best known for organizing the torch-wielding "Unite the Right" white nationalist march in Charlottesville and for leading a Nazi-like salute of President-elect Trump at an "alt-right" conference in Washington. But the white nationalist faction that supports Trump has never been a fan of Trump's hawkishness in the Middle East, and after Iran retaliated Tuesday for Trump's killing of one of its most powerful generals, Spencer said he was officially off the Trump bandwagon.
When you've lost Richard Spencer. pic.twitter.com/yuUOvFFdN3
— Damon Linker (@DamonLinker) January 8, 2020
If there was any doubt why Spencer, who put an Iranian flag in his Twitter handle, "deeply regret[s] voting for and promoting Donald Trump in 2016," he explained in a subsequent tweet.
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.— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) January 8, 2020
A significant portion of Trump's most vocal supporters, like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Spencer's alt-right brethren, backed him because of his "America First" mantra, which many of them interpreted to mean withdrawing U.S. forces from the Middle East and keeping most immigrants out of America. As Trump decides how to respond to Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi bases, it's worth keeping an eye on that slice of MAGA America.
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