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Groypers are putting the next generation of Republican leadership at risk

As Gen Z conservatives come of age, Republicans have a groyper problem.

Young GOP associations across the country have gotten caught up in all manner of scandals, from racist group chats to Nazi salutes.

Earlier this month, the College Republicans of America shared on X that they were “proud to welcome” 23-year-old Brigham Young University student Kai Schwemmer as national political director. The appointment immediately drew scrutiny due to Schwemmer’s past affiliation with Nick Fuentes, the controversial far-right streamer popular with Gen Z and Gen Alpha boys.

Schwemmer, who is a political streamer himself, appeared in a video promoting Fuentes’s “White Boy Summer” tour and was a “special guest” at his America First Political Action Conference in 2022. He’s also said all manner of nasty stuff.

In one 2023 exchange on a video stream, he suggested that Jewish people “run the media,” “run Hollywood” and “run academia.”

ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt said on X that his appointment “signals the College Republicans of America is normalizing antisemitism and white supremacy, full stop.”

Schwemmer responded, admitting that “in the past, I’ve spoken in ways that were unnecessarily crass or demeaning,” adding, “Comments in high school and as a teenager should not be taken to accurately reflect my views or demeanor now.”

That would be fair — if his recent views weren’t just as fringe. 

On a stream only seven months ago, he implied that he would prefer a society where “abortion is banned and slavery is legal” to one where “slavery is banned and abortion is legal.”

In December, Schwemmer urged Florida voters to support gubernatorial candidate James Fishback — who has been accused of using antisemitism and racism as a campaign tactic — because he has “trustworthy physiognomy.”

In early March, he compared Iranian dissident Reza Pahlavi to a monkey, and in February he defended rhetoric about “heritage Americans,” a nativist term used to delineate citizens who are not descended from recent immigrants. 

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Schwemmer advocated “mass deportations, done indiscriminately” and also expressed concern about the “Islamification of America” and the country “building billions of mosques” in a March 6 livestream.

But the College Republicans of America is standing behind him. “I would like to apologize … to absolutely NOBODY, CRA will never back down to the WOKE mob,” President Martin Bertao said in an X post.

Schwemmer told The Post that concern his appointment might represent a far right turn in young Republican leadership is “warranted” — among “war-mongering economics-olyist neocons within the Republican establishment.”

“It doesn’t start with me,” he said. “Young conservatives are waking up to the way that our country has been sold out,” citing H1-B visas and mass migration. “There may be some who see that as ‘far-right,’ but Gen-Z conservatives think the status quo has been far more destructive than their labels are.”

Schwemmer is almost moderate compared to some college Republican associates.

At Florida International University in early March, a leaked WhatsApp group chat showed college Republicans flouting antisemitism, homophobia and racism — and using the N-word more than 400 times.

One member joked about beheading, dissecting and crucifying black people. Another instructed the group to “avoid the coloreds like the plague.” The club could not be reached for comment.

The president of FIU, Jeanette Nuñez, condemned the group chat as “abhorrent and extremely disturbing” and said in a statement that the school’s police department is investigating the incident.

It wasn’t the first scandal of its kind. Back in October, a leaked group chat of young Republican leaders revealed members had called black people monkeys, praised Hitler and discussed raping their “enemies.”

Also this month, the University of Florida disbanded the Florida Federation of College Republicans after two students reportedly performed a Nazi salute. While the school cited the “antisemitic gesture” as reason to break up the group, the club suggested that it was retaliation for hosting Fishback on campus.

They continued to hold meetings and even sued the school for allegedly discriminating against protected speech. The University of Florida declined to comment due to ongoing litigation, and the club did not respond to request for comment.

Schwemmer is right. It didn’t “start with him.” Young people across the country have taken a far right turn in their politics — toward isolationism, edgelording, nativism and even bigotry.

It’s an over-correction in the face of woke orthodoxy. Now young conservatives are creating a sort of woke of their own, pushing the envelope until they start embracing total absurdity.

The Gen Z right has taken a wrong turn. It might seem funny and edgy in the bubble that is their clubs, but it’s putting the future of the Republican party at risk of catastrophic splintering.

Colleges and universities

Rikki Schlott Groypers are putting the next generation of Republican leadership at risk

Groypers are putting the next generation of Republican leadership at risk

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