Right-wing commentator Nick Fuentes has sharply broken with Donald Trump, urging his followers to rethink their support for both the president and the Republican Party after the recent US military strike on Iran.
The livestreamer sharply criticized the president’s decision to send American troops into Iran as part of a joint operation with Israeli forces. He also singled out Jewish commentators who publicly supported the strike.
“Something has gone horribly wrong. All of those people, with some exceptions, were ‘never Trumpers’ in 2016,” Fuentes said. “[Ben] Shapiro didn’t vote for Trump in ’16, Mark Levin was critical of Trump in 2016. Where were these people when the movement was actually born, when those pillars were in place? Now all of those people are in the center. The movement is something else now, and what we need in 2028, this is our last chance, we need in 2026 for this administration to be shut the f— down.” he said.
Calls to “shut down” the administration
Fuentes continued to attack the administration and questioned its actions.
“What does this administration do other than cover up the Epstein files, embezzle money through government contracts and bring us to war for Israel?” he added. “This administration needs to be shut down immediately.”
He urged his “groyper” followers to protest by refusing to support Republican candidates in the midterm elections and even suggested voting for Democrats.
“Do not vote in the midterms, and if you do, vote Democrat,” Fuentes said. “F— this. That is what the Republicans deliver. That is what our golden age looks like. The tariffs were refunded, the deportations were stopped. They wound down and withdrew the ICE from Minneapolis. What does this administration do other than embezzle money, go to war with Iran and bury the Epstein files – oh, and blackmail Harvard so they police antisemitism and ban people who criticize Israel from being in American.”
“This administration needs to be shut down immediately,” he added. “It has forfeited its mandate. They promised no new wars, they promised mass deportations and America first, and we’re not getting any of it. So shut it down. In 2026, shut it down, and our only hope is that in 2028 in the Republican primary somebody will emerge who will actually put America first.”
Fuentes’ past ties and criticism of Trump
Fuentes openly criticized Trump, his former ally saying the 2024 campaign had been “hijacked by the same consultants, lobbyists, and donors that he defeated in 2016.”
Earlier, Trump stepped back from Fuentes after hosting him and Kanye “Ye” West at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022. Both have been accused of clear antisemitism.
Despite the controversy, Fuentes maintains a loyal and growing following. According to The New York Times, current and former Trump administration officials and outside advisers often avoid engaging with him “out of fear.” The report noted, “[Fear] of inviting online attacks from him and his zealous followers… Three of them mentioned the sudden ubiquity of Fuentes-related clips circulating in their social media feeds.”
Rejects Vance and Rubio as successors
Trump has positioned Vice President JD Vance as his preferred successor, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also been mentioned as a possible heir to the MAGA movement. Fuentes made it clear he does not support either of them.
“I am not voting for the vice president and the secretary of state that brought us to war in Iran,,” he said. “I won’t do it – 2026, shut it down. You’ve to to burn the house down with them inside, metaphorically, and in ’28 you better hope somebody has a prayer to run the Trump strategy and do another hostile takeover of the GOP. Otherwise, I’m going to become a Democrat, like, at that point, rather than be beholden to this country.”
“That is our last chance,” he added. “[In the] ’28 Republican primary, we need a Trumpian figure to relight the candles. Someone needs to take the flame and take it further than Trump. He needs to take the baton and take it further and fulfill America first. That is the only way out of this at this point. Anyone that is not on this is not serious. The only takeaway that I have on all of these events, you are not pressuring this administration. All of these people told us, if Trump takes us to war in Iran, we’ll just tweet about it. Yeah, well that’s not really working, is it?”
