Who is Nick Fuentes? At one point, the far-right provocateur considered making his home in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — In recent days, many people in conservative politics have been in an uproar over a far-right podcaster who has been rising in the political landscape for years.

Last week, former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson hosted Nick Fuentes on his podcast,

“The Tucker Carlson Show.” Fuentes, 27, has been in the online space since at least 2017, where he has espoused views ranging from praise of Adolf Hitler to wishing women didn’t have the right to vote. Many of his views and followers, known online as Groypers, have been characterized as antisemitic, white nationalist and akin to neo-Nazism, a term that Fuentes doesn’t himself endorse.

Since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, Fuentes has been a staunch critic of the Israeli government and the ongoing war in Gaza, despite himself holding imperialist views of invading other countries. Like Fuentes, Carlson has also been critical of Israel, as well as U.S. aid to the country in the midst of the war in Gaza.

During the interview, which ran over two hours, Carlson and Fuentes had a friendly conversation about Fuentes’ background and political beliefs. As of Wednesday, Carlson’s interview with Fuentes has received over 5 million views on YouTube. “The Tucker Carlson Show” remains one of the most popular in the country.

In the wake of the interview, however, many Republicans and conservatives have criticized Carlson for having Fuentes on his podcast, which consistently tops both the political and general audience podcast charts on Spotify. Before Fuentes became a lightning rod on how what was once considered fringe far-right beliefs could enter the mainstream, Alabama was almost a chapter in the Chicago native’s story.

In 2017, Fuentes was a student at Boston University with his online show who made waves after attending the “United the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where many far-right extremists protested the taking down of Confederate monuments. After receiving backlash and self-described threats for his involvement, Fuentes briefly considered transferring to Auburn University to study.

In an interview with The Auburn Plainsman, the student newspaper at AU, Fuentes said he thought Alabama would be a better place for him.

“The reason I thought Auburn was a good choice was, to be honest, it was one of my original choices to go to school when I graduated high school,” Fuentes said. “Auburn University is a more wholesome campus. It has better weather and better people. And ultimately I think it will be friendlier territory.”

An Auburn spokesperson later confirmed to AL.com that Fuentes had been admitted to the school for the fall 2017 term but never confirmed his enrollment. Fuentes never attended Auburn but later received an associate degree from the College at DuPage.