Nick Fuentes

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has addressed the crowds at white nationalist Nick Fuentes’ events the last two years in a row — most recently sparking uproar after both he and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared at the America First Political Action Conference last month.

Despite receiving abnormally swift condemnation from GOP leadership after news of his appearance broke, Gosar had not yet addressed the bipartisan backlash to his speech until just a few days ago.

QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) recently endorsed “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance’s bid for the Republican nomination in Ohio’s Senate race. And as he continues his descent into Trumpian madness, he’s welcoming the far-right lawmaker’s support — and all the white nationalist ties that come with it — with open, orange-tinted arms.

It’s quaint now, but I wrote a bit here about my impression of Vance from the perspective of a young person living in a small conservative town in the Midwest at the time. I was once cautiously stirred by “Hillbilly Elegy” for what it did to seemingly usher-in a new wave of nuance surrounding conservative intellectualism. But I was also deeply skeptical of his approach to Republican values; a style that seemed far too generous to the GOP during an era in which the conservative movement largely shrugged off the vile and racist rhetoric overpowering the party.