MAGA radical now toxic for College Republicans' brand

Supporters of Donald Trump celebrate after the Fox Network called the election in his favor at the site of his rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Kai Schwemmer, political director of College Republicans of America (CRA), was attempting damage control when he stated that he was "not a groyper" — a reference to followers of white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Schwemmer drew criticism from Jewish groups for streams on Cozy.tv, a platform founded by Fuentes — and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, in a March 13 post on X, formerly Twitter, warned, "Appointing Kai Schwemmer, a longtime ally of white supremacist Nick Fuentes, as political director signals the College Republicans of America is normalizing antisemitism and white supremacy, full stop. Fuentes holds strong influence over his fans, the 'Groyper Army,' and regularly jokes about the Holocaust. Schwemmer has appeared at Fuentes' conferences, streams on his platform and has spread conspiracy theories about 'Zionists' in America."

CRA President Martin Bertao is doubling down on his decision to hire Schwemmer as political director, writing that he will "apologize…. to absolutely NOBODY."

In an article published on March 30, however, The Guardian's Jason Wilson stresses that Schwemmer has become a liability for Republicans on college campuses.

"The newly appointed College Republicans of America Political Director Kai Schwemmer has made racist, antisemitic, homophobic and sexist statements while espousing extremist right-wing views on abortion, a Guardian review of livestream recordings can reveal," Wilson reports. "Schwemmer said he would accept a world in which slavery was legal if abortion was criminalized, describes himself as 'very much an anti-universal-suffrage guy' and accepts a supporter's description of him as 'our Mormon Nick Fuentes' — referring to the white nationalist influencer whose platform he streamed on for years. The comments were made after Schwemmer's return from a two-year Mormon mission to Argentina, a period he recently claimed had seen him undergo a 'process of growth' that led him to abandon previous racist beliefs."

Wilson adds, "Schwemmer had previously expressed extremist and bigoted views. The streams, many of which are not publicly available but remain accessible behind a paywall on Schwemmer's Gumroad page, also contain previously unreported material from his earlier broadcasts. In one, he walks a user through a sequence of antisemitic leading questions on the Omegle platform before directing her to Fuentes' streaming site. In others, he claims gay men are 'weaponizing' gyms 'to give you AIDS' and celebrates a DNA test he says proved 'I'm 0% Jewish.'"

Jeff Tischauser, a senior researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), is skeptical about claims that Schwemmer is distancing himself from Fuentes and the groyper movement.

Tischauser told The Guardian, "Any time someone claims they have left the movement, you need to watch them closely to see if their actions match their rhetoric, and if they are being sincere. It does not seem like Kai Schwemmer is being sincere."

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