National Harbor, Md. — Shortly after alt-right leader Richard Spencer entered the convention hall at the Conservative Political Action Conference, security guards escorted him out of the building.
CPAC spokesman Ian Walters told National Public Radio that CPAC officials ejected Spencer from the conference because he was perceived as a disruptive force.
“His views are repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism or what we do here,” he said.
Spencer is the president of the white-nationalist think tank, The National Policy Institute, and the self-proclaimed voice of the alt-right, a political and ideological faction that believes the United States is a country reserved for white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants.
Once he had been ejected, Spencer took to Twitter outside of the convention center to disparage those within:
First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win. #CPAC2017 #AltRight
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) February 23, 2017
He also tweeted about Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, saying that he was a “nice gentleman” but that his approach was insufficient because “we live in revolutionary times.”
Larry Arnn seems like a very nice gentleman… but we need to get beyond this fuddyduddy stuff. We live in revolutionary times! #CPAC2017
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) February 23, 2017
Spencer said in an email later that these tweets refer to how he believes that in the long run, his movement will win “the battle of ideas — the battle for culture and civilization.”
Spencer also said he thinks CPAC officials removed him from the conference without due cause.
“A major event like CPAC should be open to sharing ideas and debating one’s opponents in a civilized way,” he said. “Indeed, I purchased a ticket and acted in a polite and courteous manner, and many journalists and attendees alike were interested in my ideas. Those who initiated my expulsion had the perfect opportunity to challenge those ideas but chose to ban them instead.”
Spencer’s expulsion comes just days after CPAC officials disinvited keynote speaker Milo Yiannopoulos following the uncovery of videos in which the former Breitbart journalist defended pedophilia. Spencer and Yiannopoulos have both been called spokesmen for the alt-right.
Spencer said he dislikes this comparison, because he believes it marks a misunderstanding of how much more radical his views are in comparison to those of Yiannopoulos. He also said he thinks Yiannopoulos only used the alt-right as a self-promotion tool.
“Milo was skilled at battling this liberal establishment and the self-described left but represented nothing outside of his brand,” Spencer said. “A much watered-down version of alt right — alt-light — was a bandwagon useful for his publicity at that time.”
CPAC veteran and junior Noah Weinrich said Spencer’s notion of protecting American culture is deeply racist, only similar to conservative values on its face. According to Weinrich, the alt-right believes any group outside of their imagined American tradition — Muslims, Jews, Hispanics — threatens the integrity of American culture.
“It rejects liberalism or abstract philosophical talk of rights or government,” he said. “But Spencer grafts on his ideas of race and ethnicity and takes it to the highest degree.”
