Meet Kamala Harris-supporting white supremacist Richard Spencer: the alt-right poster boy supported Donald Trump in 2016, but said his re-election in 2024 would be ‘a catastrophe for everyone’

Nov 10 , 2024

White nationalist Richard Spencer, who popularised the term “alt-right”, surprised many when he endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris before the election. Photo: Getty Images

Spencer, who is banned from the Schengen Area in Europe, was a staunch Trump supporter who believes in a white ethno-state, but thought Harris would be the ‘best manager of the American empire’

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made their final push for the US presidency, the current vice-president received a surprise endorsement from an unlikely source. Just three days before voters went to the polls, Richard Spencer – head of the alt-right National Policy Institute think tank – confirmed that he’d be casting his vote for Harris, the Democratic nominee.

The public endorsement from the “avowed racist, antisemite and admirer of Nazism” shocked many, particularly given Spencer’s appearance at a white nationalist event in 2016 and his earlier support of Donald Trump.

So who is Richard Spencer, and why did he turn his back on Trump right before the election? Here’s what you need to know.

Why did Richard Spencer make a U-turn on Donald Trump?

Spencer made headlines after the 2016 election for his controversial appearance at the annual conference of the National Policy Institute in Washington. A clip from the meeting showed attendees giving the Nazi salute to celebrate Trump’s win and applauding Spencer, who had ended his speech by saying, “Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!”

Fast-forward eight years, and Spencer decided to give his support to left-wing Democrat Harris. In a video posted on X, Spencer said that “this is a sincere vote”, explaining that “it’s voting for the person who best offers stability, safety, continuation and is most likely to be the best manager of the American empire”.

Spencer publicly declared that he had confidence in Harris. “Women on average are as smart as men, if not smarter than men on average … I have total confidence in Harris and her administration as competent administrators. That’s never really been an issue.” This is a sharp contrast to his comments in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was running as the Democratic nominee. At the time, Spencer said “Women should never be allowed to make foreign policy. It’s not that they’re ‘weak.’ To the contrary, their vindictiveness knows no bounds.”

Spencer’s U-turn is significant, especially as much of what he has said in the past aligns with extreme far-right views. However, Spencer has clarified his change of heart, saying that in 2016, he felt that Trump’s vitriolic comments fed “this notion that everything was going to change” but that now, he realises that “if we fully implement what they [Trump and his allies] are talking about, it’s going to be a catastrophe for everyone”.

He wants to create a white ethno-state

Richard Spencer wants to see a white ethno-state. Photo: AP Photo

Spencer has previously promoted the idea of creating a white homeland, telling Salon in 2013 that white people “need to start thinking about a new ethno-state that we would want to be a part of. This is not going to happen in the next election or in the next 10 years probably, but something in the future that would be for our great grandchildren.”