Donald Trump seems to have admitted that he lost the 2020 presidential election after long maintaining that the presidential race was rigged against him. Trump’s acknowledgment has made some far-right figures more furious, with white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes announcing that he will not support the former president in this year’s White House race.
Donald Trump is unlikely to care, of course, given that he has never embraced Fuentes’ endorsement.
Fuentes questioned that if Trump lost the election, why did he mobilize his voters to launch a “Stop the Steal” movement and gather them outside Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. The far-right advocate also stated that Trump should have accepted this before 1,600 of his supporters got charged in different criminal cases.
Fuentes went on to say that all his bank accounts were frozen, his name was added to the no-fly list, and he got “banned from everything” for backing Trump’s cause.
Political insiders believe that far-right groups and individuals are extremely important in keeping Trump’s campaign afloat, as they can help him reach a broad audience of people who appreciate Trump’s combative style of politics.
However, some political analysts believe that Trump is trying to lure moderate voters before the elections, which is prompting him to shift away from his long-standing talking points, such as his election fraud narrative.
Colin Henry, a George Washington University researcher who studies the role of digital media in political violence, stated that far-right groups no longer extend the same level of support toward Trump as they once did.
Henry noted that extremist groups never considered Trump “their guy” and only used him to further their goals. However, these extremist figures are no longer looking towards Trump for their own causes, and most have already started distancing themselves from the former president, Henry added.
Even before Trump acknowledged the 2020 election outcome, Fuentes was planning to go against him in the upcoming elections. He has previously indicated that he plans to hold a press conference against Trump in mid-September and campaign against the Trump-Vance ticket.
Another far-right activist, Candace Owens, claimed that Trump is initiating a “MAGA Civil War” by changing his hardline stances on different issues to gain popularity among moderate voters. However, Owens stated that she will continue to support Trump, adding that the former president urgently needs to regain the support of those who once stood behind him unconditionally.
Resorting to the political center is a common election-year tactic adopted by candidates from both parties, as close elections are decided by the votes of swing voters, who tend to be moderate. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is also using the same tactic by denouncing her previous anti-fossil fuel and open border stances that she always promoted to get far-left backing.
