If you want to be a conservative personality, don’t associate yourself with white nationalists and anti-Semites. This should be pretty simple.
Unfortunately for too many conservatives, it’s not. On Monday, Right Wing Watch reported that Ashley St. Clair, a Turning Point USA ambassador and speaker, appeared at a gathering of anti-Semites and white nationalists, which was basically a who’s who of alt-right Twitter.
The group included Nicholas Fuentes, who attended the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and hosts a podcast on which he recently had an anti-Semitic rant; conspiracy theorist and failed hoaxer Jacob Wohl; and Tim Gionet (known as the alt-right personality “Baked Alaska”), a scheduled speaker at the Unite the Right rally.
Also at the dinner was Kathy Zhu, who earned conservative fame after she was stripped of her Miss Michigan title for “offensive” tweets. With her history of associating with right-wing grifters, it’s no surprise that she was there, or that she defended the gathering afterward:
“Can people not be friends if they disagree on certain political views??” she demanded. When those disagreements involve whether or not racism is bad, then no, probably not.
St. Clair adopted a similar defense, telling Right Wing Watch that “attending a dinner for a civil conversation is not an endorsement for anybody’s views.” Yet somehow, it seems unlikely that the people buddying up in the photo gathered to hash out their differences.
TPUSA didn’t buy her explanation either, and it severed its ties with St. Clair.
“Ashley is no longer one of our thousands of volunteer activists and ambassadors,” a representative said in a statement. Founder “Charlie [Kirk] and TPUSA have repeatedly and publicly denounced white nationalism as abhorrent and un-American and will continue to do so.”
Despite becoming too Trumpy and having troubles with racist staff in the past, TPUSA did the right thing. Conservatives should be in no way associated with alt-right trolls who are trying to brand themselves as something acceptable by linking themselves with the broader center-right. And it’s not “guilt by association” to condemn conservatives for cozying up to white nationalists at a party.
Another TPUSA ambassador knew that, too. According to Right Wing Watch, the group organizing a debate between Fuentes and Wohl, Demand Free Speech, claimed that another TPUSA ambassador, Zoe Sozo, would be attending their event. “A TPUSA spokesperson told Right Wing Watch that Sozo had been invited to attend the event, but after researching the group, she decided to decline the invitation,” it reported.
Conservatives must distance themselves from all forms of bigotry, especially white nationalism and white supremacy. Iowa Rep. Steve King couldn’t do it, and he was stripped of his congressional committees. TPUSA is right to demand better of its ambassadors.
All conservatives should support the group’s decision. It’s not about “cancel culture,” it’s about rejecting hateful, evil ideologies. And conservatives must stop being snowflakes when they’re in the wrong, or some of the Left’s accusations against them might prove true.