Far-right pundit and content creator Nick Fuentes recently tested the bounds of his own vapidness — while simultaneously proving the loyalty of his core supporters — after two of the white nationalist’s followers taped a CNN segment, and one of the young men did not, according to the image-conscious pundit, look the “groyper” part.
The all-too-revealing series of events began last week when two of Fuentes’s devoted “groypers” — the term coined for the very online, performatively white nationalist, anti-immigration, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic and sexist gaggle of men whose currency is being obnoxious or inflammatory, but always attention-seeking — sat for an interview with CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan to discuss their growing online political movement.
John Lawrence was one of these two young men, both of whom proudly agreed to the interview with the cable news outlet. It’s unclear exactly what they discussed with O’Sullivan, but they surely sang the praises of their groyper king. After the still-unaired segment was in the can, Lawrence posted some stills to his Instagram account, which is reportedly devoted to groyper content and has amassed upwards of 40,000 followers. In one still with O’Sullivan, Lawrence even reportedly asserted that he and his companion were “mogging” the young host — meaning they looked better, hotter, more handsome and more masculine than the reporter.
As other images of Lawrence and friends from CNN’s segment circulated online, the vibe shifted. Maybe they weren’t the hottest guys in the room; maybe these two representatives of the movement were too pudgy, too nerdy, too lame to be the self-appointed avatars for the movement — at least as far as CNN viewers are concerned.
This was about when Fuentes dropped in to trash the two followers — young men so devoted to his particular brand of hatred that they were literally wearing T-shirts with his likeness emblazoned on them while appearing on national television.
In what neatly encapsulates the uncomfortable, rude, thin-skinned yet cruel, sarcastic and ultimately juvenile communication style of his online brood, the leader of the pack started with — what else — Lawrence’s looks.
“What the actual fuck is this,” Fuentes posted, feigning confusion at the young men — who are likely an accurate representation of his base — for agreeing to be representatives of his movement on a news segment.
“Do not claim to represent me if you are dressed like that and are +25 BMI,” he wrote next, pulling no punches as he went for the jugular, before becoming defensive of his lucrative brand: “As a matter of fact nobody represent me at all.”
Then came the mocking, hard-to-read-as-serious tone, alongside an image of the three men doing what looks like a walk-and-talk interview: “For CNN. Can’t wait for this lmao. For fucks sake. It just keeps getting better. I AM NEVER COMING BACK.”
Then he went dark: “Everything I supported in the past, I am now against. Fuck goyim.”
And darker: “Can someone come kill me immediately,” he wrote, alongside a close-up of Lawrence’s questionable footwear.
He then posted an image of Family Guy‘s Peter Griffin falling from a window, probably to his death.
The mob, of course, piled on. Soon enough, they were calling for Lawrence to be doxxed and have his life ruined. They even drew a mean caricature of him. Fuentes and his hateful mob — along with the rest of the world — are still waiting for the segment to air on CNN. That is, if they can stop tearing the subjects to shreds.
