(New York) The focus group brought together nine male Generation Z voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2024. They were notably asked who their favorite candidate was for the 2028 presidential election.
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Only one of these young men born after 1997 nominated Vice President JD Vance. Others mentioned Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy or Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. But none generated as much enthusiasm as James Fishback, according to a report from the focus group published last week by the news site Politico.
James who?
Aged 31, James Fishback is running for governor of Florida, for which Ron DeSantis cannot seek a third term in November. CEO of an anti-woke hedge fund and political novice, the Florida native is the embodiment of an uninhibited white nationalism that perhaps represents the future of the Republican Party.
“Pretty soon every victorious Republican politician will be talking this way,” Tucker Carlson said while promoting a lengthy interview James Fishback did with him on his popular podcast.
PHOTO KEVIN LAMARQUE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Conservative host Tucker Carlson, January 9
And how does James Fishback speak? He speaks like neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, leader of the radical movement called “Groyper” and whose notoriety Tucker Carlson also increased by inviting him to his podcast.
“You have my vote!” »
“The only systemic racism in America is that which targets white Christian men,” James Fishback told Tucker Carlson during an interview broadcast on January 9.
“I know about it,” replied the host, whose complacency towards Nick Fuentes and James Fishback is perhaps linked to his own presidential ambitions.
During the same interview, James Fishback presented one of his flagship proposals: Florida’s divestment from Israeli sovereign bonds and the use of this money, or $385 million, to finance an aid program intended for young married couples who want to buy their first home.
“We need to protect access to homeownership, so young people across our state can buy homes, get married and start families,” the candidate told Tucker Carlson.
“You have my vote!” », retorted the host, who has a residence in Florida and who maintains anti-Israeli, even anti-Semitic, positions. “That’s all I needed to hear.” Amen. Amen. »
“White genocide”
A few days before this interview, far-right influencer Ella Maulding, a disciple of Nick Fuentes, asked James Fishback to identify the “major problem in America that Republican politicians don’t dare talk about.”
Straight away, James Fishback responded: “The great replacement and white genocide. Both of these things are real, and I’m running for governor of Florida to put an end to them. »
In truth, the conspiratorial and racist theory of the great replacement is already part of the discourse of some Republican politicians. The latter thus accuse the Democrats of advocating an open border to change the electorate in their favor.
On the other hand, the idea of a white genocide remains marginal. But for how much longer?
According to far-right scholar Ben Lorber, Fishback and Fuentes represent “a rising Generation Z wing of the MAGA movement, ‘America First’, economically populist, and steeped in a white Christian nationalist worldview that disdains Jews, women, and non-white immigrants.”
The focus group organized last Monday by Longwell Partners confirms James Fishback’s notoriety among young men of “gen Z”, who follow far-right influencers or gamers online, including Zack Hoyt, alias Asmongold, who gave his support to the neophyte candidate last December.
Electoral power
But does James Fishback have a real chance of winning the Republican primary for the post of governor of Florida in August? Probably not. The man has heavy debts and must defend himself for having established, at the age of 26, an illegal affair in Florida with a 16-year-old girl.
What’s more, his main Republican opponent, Florida Representative Byron Donalds, enjoys the support of Donald Trump.
No matter: James Fishback’s campaign is seen as a test of the electoral power of a community of white extremists whose influence is manifested mainly online at the moment.
JD Vance is one of the Republican presidential candidates who will be interested in the result of this test. Ditto for Tucker Carlson, who was received at the White House by Donald Trump on January 16.
In the meantime, James Fishback does not hesitate to launch attacks deemed racist against Byron Donalds, who is black. He accuses him in particular of being the “slave” of his donors. And he nicknames him “AIPAC Shakur”, an allusion to the influential pro-Israel lobby and the late rapper.
Question: “Being born in Calgary, Canada, can Ted Cruz really run for President of the United States? », asks André Perreault.
Answer: Article II of the U.S. Constitution states that one must be a natural-born citizen to be eligible for the presidency. The Supreme Court has not decided the issue, but most experts agree that Ted Cruz meets this test as the son of an American mother, even though he was born in Alberta.
