If mainstream media’s coverage of Richard Spencer were to be believed, you’d think he’s the most TV show-like white supremacist of all-time–clear-cut, well-dressed, and dons of the ideology its most-superficial iconography. A newly-leaked recording of Spencer dating back to the Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ rally reveals what’s of little surprise to anyone who’s even remotely familiar with white supremacist tactics–the facade that Spencer dons for the public is nothing like his private self, and that latter is just a simmering pot of explosive angry just waiting to be unleashed at whomever pokes it the right way. Richard Spencer — hot-tempered and discontent with the public reception of the rally — used anti-Semitic language that’s clear as day, and it puts back into clear focus criticisms activists have always made about mainstream media’s eagerness to platform problematic voices under the guise of false impartiality, only to get ignored for being intolerant towards “opinions they disagree with”.
Spencer occupies this really weird space in media where he’s simultaneously the face of American white nationalism in mainstream media and gets to enjoy ample uncritical coverage of his bigoted views, all-the-while the alternative influence network on platforms like YouTube sanitize his image by painting him as but a mere counterweight to anti-fascists. The problem with that perception is that Antifa exists as a reaction to fascists and not the other way around, and so when Spencer’s views are made benign by contrasting his public-facing composure with Antifa’s often-disruptive behavior, Spencer gets to enjoy the praise of being “well-behaved” while his critics look the part of angry mobsters.
If it were up to the sanest people in the room, Spencer wouldn’t have lasted much longer than he already did. Shortly after Trump won the 2016 presidential elections, leaked footage of Spencer at an alt-right conference in Washington D.C. surfaced where he showed little resistance to attendees performing the Nazi salute to Trump’s victory. Karma didn’t take long to catch up with Spencer as he got punched in the face mid-interview mere months later–the response to his rhetoric, as visceral as it…
