White Nationalist Richard Spencer Reportedly Spews Hate on Leaked Audio
A leaked audiotape attributed to white nationalist Richard Spencer depicts him as a suit-and-tie bigot who uses coded language to charm the masses but who deploys slur-laden, racist language with his followers.
The audio, purportedly from Spencer, was leaked by far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and posted Sunday to his Telegram channel. It was ostensibly taken following the deadly 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, possibly by someone within Spencer鈥檚 circle, according to the British newspaper .听On the tape, Yiannopoulos says, the voice belongs to a screaming Spencer, who uses numerous slurs against racial and religious minorities.
Yiannopoulos 听that he鈥檚 verified with three people that Spencer鈥檚 voice is on the recording and with one other person who was in the room at the time of the rant. Other white nationalists, including YouTuber听,听asserted on Telegram they were aware of the audio鈥檚 existence before and had listened to it a few times.
Hatewatch tried to reach Spencer via email and through social media, but he didn鈥檛 return requests for comment. However, he he didn鈥檛 recall making the remarks but he would respond at a later time. The paper reported Spencer tweeted a link to a right-wing video with the phrase 鈥渘ever apologize.鈥�
The leaked audio apparently originated in the wake of the Charlottesville rally that resulted in the death of counterprotester . The audio represents one of the biggest cracks in Spencer鈥檚 carefully crafted facade as a well-dressed and articulate proponent of white-power talking points. Throughout the tape, Spencer purportedly rants about 鈥渒----,鈥� an offensive term white supremacists use to refer to people of Jewish descent, and 鈥渙ctoroons,鈥� 听describing someone who is one-eighth black.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to f------ ritualistically humiliate them,鈥� he screeches at one point, referring to the residents of Charlottesville. Cheers and encouragement follow. 鈥淚 am coming back here every f------ weekend if I have to.鈥�
And later: 鈥淲e are going to destroy this f------ 迟辞飞苍.鈥�
On Wednesday, 听鈥� the organization behind the Charlottesville lawsuit against the organizers of Unite the Right 鈥� announced that the plaintiffs鈥� legal team was issuing subpoenas to Yiannopoulos 鈥渇or all documents related to the litigation,鈥� including any additional audio of Spencer.
The 鈥渁lt-right鈥� 鈥� a term Spencer and others use to portray their form of white supremacy as something novel 鈥� captured the public鈥檚 attention in late 2016 and 2017. Throughout the movement鈥檚 rise to prominence, it has relied on using coded language to portray the alt-right as nothing more than an eclectic band of dissident conservatives.听听
For years, the white nationalist leader has called for overt 听but has tried to pass off his noxious beliefs as intellectual curiosities.
Spencer has told journalists that his vision of a white ethnostate ought to be compared to Zionism. 鈥淚n the mid 19th century, many Jews in Central Europe had an idea of an ethno-state, an idea of Zionism, and they were considered ridiculous and insane,鈥� Spencer told 听in 2013.
He used similar language in 2017 during his brief national college tour, 听that one state he often turned to for guidance was Israel. That same year, Spencer even told Israel鈥檚 Channel 2 News that he saw himself as a 鈥渨hite Zionist.鈥�
鈥淵ou could say that I am a white Zionist in the sense that I care about my people, I want us to have a secure homeland for us and ourselves,鈥� the newspaper , quoting from his TV appearance, said. 鈥淛ust like you want a secure homeland in Israel.鈥�
Yet, in the leaked audio from Charlottesville, Spencer purportedly screams to a room of cheering supporters: 鈥淟ittle f------ k----. They get ruled by people like me.鈥�
As in his comparisons to Zionism, Spencer 鈥� and others 颅鈥� have used the moniker of identitarianism to distance themselves from their movement鈥檚 violent, racist past. The term alludes to racial and ethno-national identity politics but also implies a forceful rejection of multiculturalism and ethnopluralism.
At times, the goals of these rebranding exercises have been made explicit. In 2018, former Spencer ally Patrick Casey appeared on the 听to argue that his white nationalist group Identity Evropa 鈥� which has since rebranded as the American Identity Movement 颅鈥� was 鈥渢rying to move beyond the paradigm that includes buzzwords like 鈥榬acist.鈥� 鈥�
Spencer and others have used 听as a means of presenting his vision of a 听or a 鈥渨hite ethnostate鈥� as something befitting mainstream politics. Although his call for 鈥減eaceful ethnic cleansing鈥� has made the , alongside an array of glitzy photos, Spencer has consistently refused to discuss the specifics of his vision.
More often than not, he frames the possibility of such a community as a 鈥渄ream.鈥� Instead, the concept could be used, as 听reported in a 2016 profile of him, 鈥渢o shift the bounds of accepted political discourse.鈥� As for the idea of these changes being brought about in a 鈥減eaceful鈥� manner, Spencer has seemingly managed to coax some reporters into publishing his denunciations of other white nationalists鈥� violent behavior, as he did in a recent听听on Gavin McInnes.
But the leaked audio shows such appeals are little more than an explicit cover for the violent subordination of minorities.
鈥淚 rule the f------ world,鈥� he shouts in the video. 鈥淭hose pieces of shit get ruled by people like me. They look up and see a face like mine looking down at them. That鈥檚 how the f------ world works.鈥�
This sense of pride in the domination and subjugation of others has cropped up before. In 2017, Spencer told British journalist Gary Younge 听for 鈥淎ngry, White, and American鈥� 鈥� a documentary for British network Channel 4 颅颅鈥� that 鈥淎fricans have benefited from their experience with white supremacy.鈥� When pressed by Younge on whether Spencer is 鈥減roud of slavery,鈥� he responds, 鈥淚 embrace all of it.鈥� (Spencer was notably less candid 听about his family鈥檚 wealth from cotton farms, which the podcast noted is in a 鈥渞egion that 鈥� has a history of slavery and racism.鈥�)
Still, all these instances are a far cry from the screams in the leaked audio that his 鈥渁ncestors enslaved those pieces of f------ 蝉丑颈迟.鈥�
Spencer鈥檚 persona has, for years, acted as a veneer for his white supremacist beliefs. He may draw upon , the famous Zionist leader who advocated for a Jewish homeland, to bolster his vision of a white ethnostate. He even told 听in 2017, that the future of his racist think tank, the National Policy Institute, lay in a marquee headquarters in downtown Washington.
Ultimately, however, Spencer has shown himself to be fluent in the slurs used by his white supremacist forefathers. He's masked his true self, it seems, out of a realization that breaking his ideas into the mainstream requires a closet full of suits and a penchant for German philosopher .
The carefully crafted facade that Spencer prefers to show journalists, however, has occasionally collapsed. At听听the National Policy Institute's 2016 conference, Spencer said, 鈥淲e have a culture. We have the right to do this,鈥� referring to his organization鈥檚 difficulties in finding an appropriate venue in Washington for his evening gathering of white supremacists.
At that same event, Spencer stood in front of a room of boisterous white nationalists 听throwing up 鈥淪ieg Heil鈥� salutes with noted Hitler-appreciator听Tila Tequila.
鈥淕o to hell!鈥� he shouted, referring to a group of protesters outside.
Minutes later, after a brief discussion of logistics for the rest of that evening, Spencer told the room that while he had considered telling everyone 鈥溾�榃e will party like it鈥檚 1933!鈥� or something 鈥� that joke is outmoded. We鈥檙e going to party like it鈥檚 2016!鈥�
By mentioning 1933, a reference to Hitler鈥檚 rise to power, in tandem with Trump鈥檚 election win, Spencer sought to draw a connection between the two. The next day, video producers from The Atlantic caught Spencer giving a speech before a mass of jubilant white supremacists 鈥� .
Still, Spencer has benefited from the massive wave of media coverage that came as a result of his willingness to speak to journalists in a manner that was, at times, forthright and, at others, coded.
The innocuously named National Policy Institute brought in 听in 2016, according to publicly available tax forms published on ProPublica鈥檚 website, a leap from 听in earlier years.
These days, the institute is a shadow of its former self. Its website hasn鈥檛 been updated in more than a year, and the group has apparently stopped doing public events.
But that doesn鈥檛 mean Spencer lacks a platform. In July, he appeared on CNN鈥檚 鈥淭he Lead With Jake Tapper鈥� to 听鈥渘othing outside racist tweets鈥� 颅鈥� the president鈥檚 policies, in other words, weren鈥檛 racist enough.
Now, we may have a better understanding of just what is racist enough for Spencer.
Photo by AP Images/Chris O'Meara
