Conservatives face a critical task: reassert the principles that defined the movement — individual liberty, limited government, and distrust of authoritarianism — or lose it to unprincipled opportunists.

The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk has left a deep vacuum within the American right — one that various political actors are now attempting to fill. For roughly a decade, the mainstream media labeled anyone who opposed Big Government, collectivism, or high taxation as some kind of “far-right radical.”

After years of misusing and diluting these labels, society now finds itself unable to distinguish genuine extremism from ordinary political dissent. This confusion has created the perfect environment for figures like Nick Fuentes to present themselves as merely “controversial conservatives,” when in reality their ideas sit entirely outside the American political tradition.

Fuentes began his career as yet another podcaster. His rhetorical skill is undeniable; it even earned him a seat at a dinner in Mar-a-Lago with President Trump and Kanye West shortly before he was banned from practically every major social-media platform. Even so, he eventually returned and now aspires to position himself as an ideological figure within the American right, despite the fact that his ideas cannot be placed within conservatism, or indeed any classical Republican ideology.

In recent interviews and public appearances, Fuentes has openly expressed admiration for the communist dictator Joseph Stalin, describing him as a model of ruthless political efficiency: “Now that the dust has settled, can we admit that Stalin was a genius? Can we admit that Stalin was the most effective leader in history?”

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