Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

‘Heil Trump’ White Supremacist Richard Spencer Mulls Run for Congress From Montana

Richard Spencer, the “alt-right” darling who famously shouted “Heil Trump” at a victory celebration, is considering running for Congress.

The rising star of the white nationalist movement says he may toss his hat — or should we say white gown? — into the ring for the Montana at-large seat being vacated by Ryan Zinke, who has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as head of the Environmental Protection Administration.

“I’m taking it very seriously,” he told the Huffington Post. “It’s an exciting prospect.”

Aside from comparing Trump to the Fuhrer, Spencer made headlines by silencing a Texas rabbi by comparing white nationalism to Zionism during a college speech.

Spencer is one of the most prominent leaders of the far right who enthusiastically backed Trump in an effort to take the movement mainstream. Even though the president-elect disavowed the movement’s support, he and close associates regularly retweeted messages from the “alt-right.”

Republican leaders said they doubted Spencer would gain much traction and Democrats demanded that the GOP quickly shun him.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.