Last week, a man messaged white nationalist Nick Fuentes during his show to claim that he’d recently been elected to a post within a local Republican Party in Michigan.
“I promise progress,” he wrote. “Thanks for your inspiration, thanks for everything.” He also gave Fuentes $10.
Even Fuentes was surprised. “Dude!” Fuentes yelled, then stared skyward for several seconds, appearing to collect his thoughts.
“Okay, I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that,” he said finally. “I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.”
Right Wing Watch first reported on the exchange.
“A follower of white nationalist Nick Fuentes named Alex Roncelli sent a public message during Fuentes’ livestream Thursday night so that he could brag about becoming a Republican chairman in Michigan,” Right Wing Watch tweeted.
“Fuentes was utterly dumbfounded that Roncelli would be foolish enough to publicly out himself as a Groyper,” it added.
Fuentes’ white nationalist followers call themselves Groypers.
It is possible that whoever messaged Fuentes’ show claiming to be Alex Roncelli was using a fake name.
The Daily Dot did not find a record of Alex Roncelli being elected chair of any Republican Party in Michigan. Online records show that an Alex Roncelli was recently elected as a Republican Party delegate in Macomb County, Michigan. A man by the same name unsuccessfully ran for clerk in a township in that county in 2020 and has been active in local conservative politics for years.
Precinct delegates, of which Roncelli appears to now be, attend statewide conventions to help select who might become the party’s nomination for secretary of state, attorney general, and state board of education. All those positions have increasingly become a focus of the far-right of the Republican party, which Groypers belong to, as they attempt to use those roles to overturn election results for Democrats and ban “liberal” ideology in schools.
In 2021, Detroit Free Press posted a video of the Capitol riot that’s credited to “protester Alex Roncelli from Macomb County.” A number of Groypers were present that day.
The Macomb County GOP didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry sent Monday afternoon.
A Google cache of a since-deleted LinkedIn account shows that a man by the same name also described his job title as a “precinct delegate” and “St Clair County GOP activist.”
St. Clair County borders Macomb County. The St. Clair GOP also didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Neither the St. Clair nor Macomb County GOP chairs are named Alex Roncelli.
A Facebook account for an Alex Roncelli in Michigan includes the bio “local precinct delegate.” Roncelli didn’t respond to a Facebook message seeking comment.
The Facebook account’s avatar is a sign of support for Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon. There’s also an Instagram account with the same name and avatar.
Internet sleuths believe they’ve identified Roncelli’s Twitter handle as @asroncelli. The account describes itself as a “local precinct delegate” named Alex Roncelli.
On Sept. 30, @asroncelli tweeted, “Nick Fuentes is more American than Thomas Galvin will ever be.”
Other tweets by the account have been described as antisemitic.
Far-right extremists have been an increasingly powerful force in Republican politics. While many conservatives still shun the likes of Fuentes and his Groypers, their growing influence is undeniable.
Some were appalled at the thought of a person who feels inspired by Fuentes being elected to a leadership position in a local Republican party. But it didn’t come as quite the surprise that it may have in the past.
“They use to wear hoods but now they out themselves on fascist podcasts,” commented one.
