Young Republicans are pushing the entire GOP into frightening territory – and no one seems to care how far it goes.

The College Republicans of America, the body that oversees more than 280 chapters on campuses across the country, selected Brigham Young University student Kai Schwemmer to be the organization’s new political director earlier in March. This decision has been controversial, as Schwemmer has ties to White supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes and has preached the "great replacement theory" online.

“It’s not a secret plot, it’s clear to see that intended or not the white population is globally declining and we are being terribly treated by the incoming populations,” Schwemmer posted in 2021 on Twitter, now X.

Schwemmer, who is often associated with Fuentes’ “groyper movement” in articles, is part of a wider trend of young Republicans shifting further to the right than their predecessors. And thanks to President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, it doesn’t seem like anyone in the GOP is going to check their behavior.

Kai Schwemmer thought Nick Fuentes was 'cool'

Schwemmer has been in the right-wing influencer sphere for years. He was part of the "Republican hype house," a group of TikTokers who made right-wing content.

In 2023, VICE News reported that accounts associated with Schwemmer on Telegram and Gab reposted “homophobic memes and cartoons referencing Hitler.”

He is mostly known – and under scrutiny – for his connection to Nick Fuentes, an avowed White supremacist and Holocaust denier. Schwemmer appeared in a video promoting Fuentes' "White Boy Summer" tour and previously attended Fuentes-backed events.

“I think he’s cool,” Schwemmer said of Fuentes when speaking with student reporters at the University of Delaware after a Turning Point USA event in 2023.

In a focus group in 2025, the right-wing Manhattan Institute found that more than half of those surveyed knew who Fuentes was, and at least one respondent followed him closely. Fuentes boasts 1.3 million followers on X, and his streams get around 500,000 views.

Schwemmer has tried to backtrack on his Fuentes fan behavior since taking the new role with the College Republicans.

“I’m not a groyper; I am simply and unapologetically an American nationalist,” Schwemmer said in an X post. (Yeah, because that’s so much better.)

But if the VICE News article labeling him a “groyper” in 2023 was inaccurate, why come out and say it now?

Is this the new right?

I would like to believe Schwemmer does not hold hateful beliefs, and I believe that he believes he has changed. Yet it does not eliminate the harm he has caused or change the fact that he rose to prominence because of his connection to Fuentes. It says more about College Republicans of America (CRA) that he was able to rise to prominence in the organization.

The young Republicans aren’t backing down. In response to criticisms of Schwemmer’s appointment, CRA President Martin Bertao said the organization “will never back down to the WOKE mob!”

The group still supporting Schwemmer isn’t entirely surprising – after all, young Republicans have learned from Trump that denying and shifting blame to the left is easier than taking accountability.

This is a pattern of behavior within young Republican circles. Racist messages in group chats keep coming to light. Nazi salutes are being thrown around freely. Violent memes are making their way onto club social media accounts.

This should concern everyone – especially folks on the right who want their young people to be taken seriously. It should be on the established figures within the Republican Party to call out behavior that makes the party look bad, but that would first require them to call out the president himself.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social

© USA TODAY