Amid growing concerns of racism and Nazi idolatry brewing among young conservatives, the College Republicans of America — an organization that boasts a presence in scores of schools nationwide — recently named a far-right influencer with ties to an extremist as its political director. 

Researcher Ben Lorber posted on X about the College Republicans’ new political director, Kai Schwemmer, a white supremacist who previously counted himself among Hitler fanboy Nick Fuentes’ associates. Lorber, who works with the social justice nonprofit Political Research Associates, has documented Schwemmer’s ties to Fuentes, his self-identification as a “groyper” (a name for Fuentes’ followers) and his promotion of white nationalist propaganda to MAGA world for years.

Lorber looked into Schwemmer’s promotion of Fuentes’ white supremacist worldview in 2021 at 76fest, a conservative Gen-Z rally, and at the American Populist Summit the same year.

In his post on Monday, Lorber said Schwemmer “has strategically downplayed his support” for Fuentes’ movement to avoid controversy. 

Schwemmer has more recently tried to tone down his extremism in public. Vice News, reporting in 2023 on extremists on Instagram, noted that Schwemmer was among those who “steer clear of overt anti-semitism or racism in favor of euphemisms and dog whistles” even as “accounts appearing to belong to Schwemmer are more explicit with their views, reposting homophobic memes and cartoons referencing Hitler, for example.”

Schwemmer’s selection as College Republicans’ political director breathes new life into arguments made by people such as extremism expert Michael Edison Hayden, who said last year that Fuentes appears to be winning the MAGA civil war between racist ideologues like himself and more mainstream conservatives. In response to online backlash to Schwemmer from others on the right, the group’s press secretary posted: