A spokesman for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denied a distinction of alt-right figure Richard Spencer late Sunday night, calling the views of the white nationalist “absolutely deviant.”
“When Joe Biden says that we are in a struggle for the soul of our nation against weary forces of hatred that emerge from rocks, you are the example of what he means. What you stand for is absolutely deviant. Your support is 10,000. % percent unwelcome here, “tweeted Andrew Bates, the director of rapid response for Biden’s campaign.
Newsweek reached the Biden campaign for further comment, but it did not respond at the time of publication.
When Joe Biden says that we are in a battle for the soul of our nation against cruel hate forces that emerge under rocks, you are the example of what he means. What you stand for is absolutely different. Your support is 10,000% percent not welcome here. https://t.co/86reJEoTCd
– Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) August 24, 2020
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Spencer, 42, previously supported Trump in the 2016 election. But he tweeted a statement from Biden on Sunday. “I intend to vote for Biden and a right-wing democratic ticket. It is not based on ‘accelerationism’ or anything like that; the Liberals are clearly more competent people,” he wrote.
In a follow-up Twitter post early Monday morning, Spencer shared a picture of himself with the words, “I’m on Team Joe.”
“The MAGA / Alt-Right moment is over. I made mistakes; Trump is an obvious disaster; but above all, the paradigm contained flaws that we can now perceive. And it must end,” Spencer wrote in a series tweets, explaining his decision. “So be patient. We’ll have another day in the sun. We need to recover and get back in a new shape.”
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Spencer and his views have been widely condemned by Democrats as well as by many conservatives. The Southern Poverty Law Center referred to Spencer as “a suit-and-tie version of the old white supremacists.”
The Spencer distinction from Biden was reminiscent of 2016, when former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard signed David Duke Trump. The then GOP presidential candidate told NBC News’ Meet the Press in July 2016 that he wanted to weigh the Duke distinction “as fast as you can tell.”
Before that, he had drawn controversy following an interview with CNN, because instead of supporting Duke, he said he was not aware of who the white supremacist was. “I know nothing about what you yourself talk about with white supremacy as white supremacists,” Trump told CNN at the time.
In 2016, Spencer came to prominence by shouting “hail Trump” and encouraging Republican presidential Nazi salutes nominated at an event in Washington, DC. Spencer has openly spoken of white supremacist views, and publicly claims that the US belongs to white people.
“America was, until this last generation, a white country designed for ourselves and our descendants,” Spencer said at the November 2016 event, where he led a crowd in singing “Hail Trump.” “It’s our creation, it’s our heritage, and it belongs to us,” he said.
He said whites “are a race that travels forever on an upward path,” adding that “white must be a creator, an explorer, a conqueror.”
Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Spencer was also part of the infamous white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally that took place in Charlottesville in 2017. During that event, far-right protesters sang openly, “Jews will not replace us.” In addition to Spencer, the event was attended by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and other high-profile white supremacists.
When Biden launched his presidential campaign in April 2019, he released a video condemning the rise of white supremacists under Trump’s leadership. He specifically criticized the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in the launch video.
“I wrote at the time that we are in the fight for the soul of this nation. Well, that is still true today. We are in the fight for the soul of this nation,” Biden said.
