Popular conservative podcaster Brett Cooper went out of her way to avoid criticizing notorious white nationalist Nick Fuentes in a recent interview with NPR, saying that while she didn’t “agree with Nick Fuentes on everything,” she still doesn’t “think I have to sit here and condemn anybody in any way.”
Cooper’s repeated deflections when asked whether Fuentes’ anti-Semitic and racist views should be condemned come a month after she accused Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of hypocrisy for calling Fuentes a Nazi, prompting the Republican senator to fire back and call Cooper an “angry lady.”
Cooper, a former Daily Wire star who recently joined Fox News as a paid contributor, sat down for a wide-ranging interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep this week that saw her voice her disagreements with President Donald Trump, insisting she “makes up her mind” when it comes to her views.
For example, she disagreed with the president recently saying that the United States needs highly skilled immigrants because Americans lack certain talents. “I think my disappointment and concern was shared by my audience and people who are like me,” the 24-year-old YouTuber told NPR. “That’s the worst thing a president can say.”
She also hit out at Trump for repeatedly calling the affordability crisis a Democratic “scam” and dismissing Americans’ concerns about rising costs, pointing out that he uses his show to reflect what young people think.
Right-wing YouTuber Brett Cooper said it was not her place to condemn Nick Fuentes’ hateful and racist rhetoric, saying Americans have the right to listen to whoever they want. (Youtube)
“I want my audience to know that if you come to the Brett Cooper Show, she doesn’t have a senator in her ear saying, ‘Hey, these are my views, could you share them?'” she said. “But if I see X happening, Ted Cruz saying something, I want to talk about it.”
Finally, Inskeep brought up the growing rift within the American conservative movement over Fuentes’ growing influence, which exploded and sparked a MAGA “civil war” after former Fox News star Tucker Carlson gave the leader of the “Groyper Army” an extremely friendly interview.
Following Carlson’s warm embrace of Fuentes, which saw the hard-right challenger furious about “organized Jewry” controlling America, the prominent conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation was thrown into an uproar after its president defended Carlson’s Fuentes platform. Cruz, meanwhile, has sought to use the right-wing split over Fuentes — who just this week declared Adolf Hitler to be “freaking cool” — to launch a 2028 presidential bid.
Amid the conservative uproar over the Carlson/Fuentes meeting, Cooper watched Cruz’s fiery reaction, which included him condemning the former Fox star while calling Fuentes a Nazi.
“You’re doing this out of blind rage because you’re so angry that the attitudes of the conservative base are changing so quickly, that Nick Fuentes is getting national attention,” Cooper shot back on her show last month, arguing that Cruz was a hypocrite because he had previously criticized liberals for accusing conservatives of being Nazis.
Fuentes, who had previously been a critic of Cooper when he was at the Daily Wire, immediately celebrated his response to the Texas senator. “She took a break from celebrity gossip to take off her mask and go full red pill. I admire her,” he declared, claiming she also became “groyper from the top rope” when she urged another GOP lawmaker to move to Israel.
Fuentes recently applauded Cooper for bashing Sen. Ted Cruz and other pro-Israel GOP lawmakers, saying she’s become “groyper from the top rope.” (Rumble)
During her interview with Inskeep, Cooper defended her stance on Fuentes, saying everyone has a “right to say what they want” and that conservatives who went out of their way to criticize the far-right extremist were guilty of the “Streisand effect” and only drawing more attention to him.
“For Gen Z, what people on both sides of the aisle need to realize is that as much as you tell my generation not to watch something, not to watch something, not to listen to something, that something is bad or to censor somebody, we’re going to go look for that content,” Cooper insisted.
However, when pressed further on whether she agrees with what Fuentes is saying and promoting, Cooper seemed to pause.
“You know, I don’t agree with Nick Fuentes on everything. I don’t agree with anybody on everything,” she said. “I think what the older generations need to learn about Nick Fuentes is he said it himself, he’s a fringe guy. He says things that are intentionally inflammatory. He knows a lot of people are going to disagree with him … and frankly, I don’t pay much attention.”
Meanwhile, Inskeep pressed Cooper on Fuentes’ recent claim that “Jewish gangsters” are running the country, asking if he agrees with that notion. “No, not really,” she replied, before adding: “I’m concerned about Israel’s impact on our country. I think a lot of young people are.”
Asked why Fuentes has gained such a large following, Cooper went on to quote a “Zionist” friend of hers who told her Fuentes was “funny,” adding that the Holocaust-denying podcaster has become a “meme” for younger Americans.
Finally, when faced with Cruz’s call to choose between condemning Fuentes or being complicit in his hateful rhetoric, Cooper said it was not her place to tell Americans who they should listen to.
“I don’t think I have to sit here and condemn anybody in any way,” she concluded. “There are things Nick says I don’t agree with. There are things Ted Cruz says I don’t agree with. I’m not going to sit here and condemn any of them.”