Paleocons In Power

January 31, 2025 Hunter Wallace Alt-Right, Anti-Semitism, Conservatism, Dissident Right, donald trump, Neocons, Paleocons, Politics, The Jewish Question, Wignatism 23

I have more thoughts this morning on wignatism.

If you think about it, we have lived through and exited a distinct era of American history. We’re now in a new era and the terminology which defined this space no longer makes any sense.

The term “alt-right” made sense in the 2000s when George W. Bush was president, Conservatism, Inc. defined the boundaries of the Right and there were basically neocon gatekeepers at National Review and The Weekly Standard who determined who was mainstream and who was fringe. The “alt-right” was everything that had been tossed in the trash by the Bush era conservative establishment. It included paleoconservatives, libertarians, race realists, White Nationalists, Neo-Nazis, etc. From the perspective of the Bill Kristols of the world, all of these factions were tainted by “antisemitism.”

In retrospect, we can look back at the Trump Revolution from 2015 to 2025 as a populist grassroots uprising against this entrenched elite. Trump really did succeed in overthrowing those people who can now be found railing against him at The Bulwark and The Dispatch. He succeeded in discrediting and driving the NeverTrump “True Conservative” faction into exile. The term “Dissident Right” is antiquated and makes no sense these days when most “dissidents” are enthusiastic Trump supporters.

In the Council of Conservative Citizens, there are people like my friend Bill Lord who are old enough to remember the whole arc of rightwing populist politics in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They started their careers in the 1960s or 1970s when “racism” was still mainstream. Republican legislators from Southern states used to speak at Council events in the 1980s and 1990s. Rightwing populism was still part of the bloodstream of mainstream politics at the state and local level in the South.

Over the course of a generation, “racism” and “antisemitism” became more and more taboo in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Neoconservatives took over the Right. Paleoconservatives were cast out into the wilderness and were driven underground during the George W. Bush presidency. Republican state legislators stopped coming to Council events. There was a widening gap between mainstream respectable conservatism and paleoconservatism which had not existed in the recent past.

We have lived through this long night.

The sun is rising now. This is what it is like to experience dawn.

If you are a paleoconservative or a rightwing populist, you are now no longer a “dissident” in any meaningful sense of the word in the second Trump administration. Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to crackdown on illegal immigration, to rollback transgenderism, to dismantle anti-White discrimination in government, to quell devastating wars, to bring back tariffs, to gut the Deep State, to reassert American interests in the Western hemisphere, and so on. These are the political priorities of paleocons and rightwing populists who are now just pillars of the MAGA base. The self-image of being a “dissident” or some kind of “alternative” to what is happening makes no sense whatsoever.

In the context of this new dawn, the differences between paleocons, libertarians, rightwing populists, nationalists and other factions, and wignats on the other, are resurfacing. The top priorities of paleocons are immigration, identity, demographic change, foreign wars, cultural degeneration, economic decline, anti-Whiteism, etc. Paleocons have always been critical of the Israel Lobby and Jewish power, but are not antisemitic. Paul Gottfried and Lawrence Auster have always been important paleocon voices. Paleocons like other Jews like Stephen Miller because he ideologically agrees with their agenda.

Wignats have very different beliefs, tastes and priorities. Paleocons, for example, dislike liberalism, but do not hate America or Christianity. Paleocons tend to be Christians from rural and small town America while wignats tend to be atheists from cities. Paleocons are not Third Worldists who yearn for Russia, China, Iran, the BRICS countries and so on to destroy America. Paleocons like populism, but do not believe in socialism or communism. Paleocons are not crippled by nostalgia for the Third Reich. They are not trying to bring back the Third Reich. The prevailing view is that the World Wars were a devastating blow to Western civilization. For wignats, Israel and the Jewish Question are the only issues that matter. “Naming the Jew” and refusing to engage with a corrupt political system matter far more than immigration. Paleocons dislike the Israel Lobby for the influence it wields over American politics and sympathize with the Palestinians who have been mistreated, but are not supporting, say, Hamas or Hezbollah. Paleocons have a very strong positive sense of White identity, but are affable and are not really hostile to others.

You will never see a paleocon crank becoming a mass shooter in a mosque, grocery store or a Walmart. You will never see a paleocon drive his car into a crowd a political rally. I’m not trying to relitigate the guilt or innocence of James Fields, Jr., but you know from experience that when something like that happens it always turns out to be someone with wignat politics. Indicted for wanting to blow up a power grid? Wignat. Indicted for murdering his roommates after converting to Islam? Wignat. Indicted for murdering a gay Jewish classmate lured into having gay sex? Wignat. Indicted for being a soldier into an openly Satanic version of Neo-Nazism and trying to kill fellow soldiers? Wignat.

Paleocons and wignats do not approach politics with the same mindset. Paleocons might be discouraged, but are not necessarily opposed to voting or trying to reform the system to accomplish goals. It usually depends on the candidate. Wignats believe “the system” is evil and are ideologically committed to destroying it. Usually, this takes the form of waiting for “The Collapse” or voting for Democrats to destroy the Right or embracing “revolutionary violence” like robbing banks or synagogue shootings. It can take the form of playing the clown online. Wignat political activity in all its various forms demobilizes Whites. Wignat tactics have a 100% failure rate because it is ultimately a religious movement. Christians wait for Jesus to come back. Wignats are waiting for Hitler and the Third Reich to come back. As I pointed out in the previous post, wignat eschatology is fundamentally different from historic National Socialism.

For a number of reasons, a “Dissident Right” coalition between paleocons and wignats makes no sense in the present moment. Paleocons will find a lot to like in the Trump administration and will be more open to voting now. Wignats will forever be disappointed that Hitler has failed to come back.

Note: A victorious, ascendant era of paleoconservatism on the Right and the implications of that is a possibility that I have never thought much about until now.

23 Comments

  1. Paleocons are bourgeois and middle class. They have a core of beliefs they inherited from their ancestors but ultimately those beliefs do not really matter. In the end paleocons care about making money and insulating themselves from liberalism. Paleoconservatism is a primitive, unsophisticated form of white flight from the 1950s-1970s. Reagan, Bush, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and all the rest are downstream from Paleoconservatism. That is why paleocons appear so hypocritical. They criticize the Jewish lobby but they are definitely not antisemitic. They question the 1960s and desegregation but they are definitely not racist or hateful. They question feminism but they definitely are not sexist. They are against empire but they support annexing territory. It is a world of having your cake and eating it too with Paleoconservatism.

    William Pierce spoke at length of the hypocrisies of the middle class generally. In the end middle class types will always retreat back to the myths of opportunity, money, and comfortable living standards, left or right. It was these very people who broke the picket line in the late 1950s. Then when they soon realized their mistake, Paleoconservatism as a movement was born

    • “That is why paleocons appear so hypocritical. They criticize the Jewish lobby but they are definitely not antisemitic. They question the 1960s and desegregation but they are definitely not racist or hateful. They question feminism but they definitely are not sexist”

      This can only appear hypocritical viewed through the toxic lens of identify politics. An unwillingness to hate is an essential Christian virtue. The cultural Marxists could not abide this. Their project is to deconstruct our society and invert its values and so tolerance derived from plain old good manners had to be undermined. And so we got ‘White privilege’ and the totalitarian imposition of a universal value set utterly intolerant of any other called ‘Diversity’. The Left can always be relied upon to project their own misanthropic world view onto their enemy. Why do they do this? Because they are quite simply jealous of regular people who don’t hate themselves & humanity and seek to find a scapegoat for the shortcomings in their own character by giving into hate.

  2. Brad, according to you why do people like Musk, Zuckerberg and others have no interest in supporting identitarian cause? It seems suspicious to me.

  4. > If you are a paleoconservative or a rightwing populist, you are now no longer a “dissident” in any meaningful sense of the word in the second Trump administration. Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to crackdown on illegal immigration, to rollback transgenderism, to dismantle anti-White discrimination in government, to quell devastating wars, to bring back tariffs, to gut the Deep State, to reassert American interests in the Western hemisphere, and so on. These are the political priorities of paleocons and rightwing populists who are now just pillars of the MAGA base. The self-image of being a “dissident” or some kind of “alternative” to what is happening makes no sense whatsoever.

    This is an interesting point but I might add that it applies only to a fairly narrow segment of the MAGA base. There’s another segment, who Trump has given numerous shoutouts to, who thinks replacing the MAGA base with foreigners is the way to go. Related to them is are the Brian Mast types who supported Trump – are they MAGA? I prefer to call them MIGA as they really don’t care much about the foreign invasion, except maybe to say that illegals should be subject to some kind of sanction. Then there’s the GOP, which has not really been taken over by MAGA at all but remains solidly in the hands of the donor class. Mikey Johnson is not MAGA but he likes to pretend so. We’re still dissidents, but on the way to perhaps having some influence.

  5. Can’t help but wonder if some this is copeium with the known coming protection for Jewish people. We knew Trump would make it criminal to criticize the Jews. Now it has come to pass. Self censoring is a safe way to make sure you don’t get arrested.

    I am not implying you are wrong about some of the characters especially the likes of Adam Green.

    • Spoiler: it’s not.

      I drew a sharp distinction between my feelings about Jews, which hasn’t changed, and my aggravation with the monomania of activists droning on like a broken record while doing all kinds of stupid retarded shit. When you are generating headlines like “Niggercel opens fire at Nashville school,” you should stop and reflect on where this has gone off the rails

      • HW has the most practical approach for the current political climate . as many of us would like to see a full awakening, the typical voter is far from that reality.

  6. Not one in a million Americans thinks of himself as a “paleocon”. Probably tens of millions now consider themselves “America First”.

    This is a terrible development, but there was this huge vacuum, after the complete failure of “conservatism”, and that is how Swishy Nicky succeeded with this America First balderdash.

    Secession is the only way forward. I am a Texas Nationalist. The New Nation of Texas should include the entire South and much of the West. Keeping in mind that nothing is possible until Zog is completely smashed and defeated in the next war.

    The Civil War movie got it almost right. The Secessionists will be primarily grouped around Austin and Sacramento, with yankeedom holding strong in the Communist Northern States. What will develop is a race war between the White Texas Regime and the Mexican California regime.

    When victorious we will conscript Yankee wignats to pick our berries for our smoothies. Fuentes can be President of the Berry Picker Union.

  7. Lawrence Auster supported the Iraq war and called Pat Buchanan an “Islamofascist” for opposing it.

    And so much of your rants don’t make sense. For example you seem to put Nick Fuentes and the groypers into the wignat camp. But they are self described paleocons – in fact, they are about the only reason anyone other than Poli Sci nerds knows what a paleocon is – and pioneered the use of “wignat” as an insult.

    What exactly constitutes being a wignat? I usually picture that term as describing some tatted up, tweaked out prison gang guy who is probably a Pagan, or even Christian Identity. But you describe wignats as being atheist urban hipsters. You say they worship the Third Reich and then say they love communism. Don’t Nazi skinheads sing about bashing commies?

    You seem to be defining “wignats” as the TRS crowd, and then lump them together with a bunch of other groups whose main commonality is being outspoken about the JQ.

    I also don’t get why you include Candace Owens of all people in your critique. Candace Owens is a pro-Trump influencer with millions of followers who is easily the most popular MAGA influencer among young people (it’s certainly not Ben Shapiro) and likely played an important role in why Kamala ran way behind Biden among Gen Z voters . I have plenty of my own criticisms of Owens, of course, but she seems to clear evidence AGAINST the notion that “antisemitic cranks” get nowhere. The dying boomer generation isn’t the future.

    Is wignatism just anything you don’t like? Or how else can wignats be simultaneously a bunch of cartoon figure white supremacist Nazis who shoot up mosques and want to exterminate all non-Whites, and at the same time also be BRICS loving Third Worldists who want Africa to destroy the West or whatever?

    • Fuentes has repeatedly said “we have to pray for Hitler to come back” and “Hitler save us.” He wasn’t always aligned with these people, but he definitely is now.

      Wignatism is a religious movement. They have to stay pure and aloof from politics until Hitler comes back like Jesus. Engaging in poitical activity in the evil system is sacrilegious. It is a cult that wraps itself in the superficial trappings of National Socialism while being at base a classic American millenarian cult.

      I’m not going to call it Neo-Nazism or National Socialism because it is spiritual, not political. Wignats don’t try to win elections. They try to lose them to bring on the End Times and the Second Coming or The Collapse as they call it

      • How anyone gives an ear to that childish kook I don’t know.
        Your analogy is apt, religion waiting for the return of their mosiach.
        Any good idea that Fuentes advocates he immediately covers with crazy sauce.

  9. I agree about Buchanan but don’t agree about Trump. I think Trump just fakes paleoconservatism and I don’t give him credit for ending the war in Gaza. I agree that there’s a difference between criticizing Jews and being antisemitic and frequently make that point myself. It’s antisemitism when you’re against Jews who agree with you politically because they don’t pass a racial purity test. It’s not antisemitism when you critique various Jewish political maneuvers – many of which are explained by fear of antisemitism.

  10. Amerikanen zijn echt absoluut waardeloze rassenverraders man.
    Geboren horige, mij best, moge de Amerikanen leven zoals de Indiërs voor eeuwig in een hel van eigen makelij.

  11. I think this divide between WigNats and Paleocons makes more sense when you consider what the endgame is for these different ideologies and movements.

    For someone who believes in Pat Buchanan, or even Ron Paul, it appears to me that they desire a specific set of policies that, if implemented, would effectively “fix” society and make it tolerable to their tastes and likings. Policies are viewed by them as a silver bullet. There is an internal logic to this thinking: Give us Policy X, and we will get Result Y. Cause, then effect. Stand on the run way and wave the flags, and the planes with food and resources will land.

    Its not just paleoconservatism that engages in cargo cult thinking. Basically all think tanks premised on specific ideologies – from the Heritage Foundation to the Cato Institute to the Center for American Progress – think this way. They agitate relentlessly for specific policies that they are convinced will “fix” what ails their country, and they have a bad habit of pathologizing as “radical” any policy that differs from what they proscribe. Thus, to a conservative ideologue, tax increases or spending increases are “radical.” To a liberal, banning abortion is “radical.” To Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump, who yearn for the America of their youth, the fact that time doesn’t stand still is “radical.”

    White Nationalism, at its worst, is defined by low class behavior. By a “bunker” or “compound” mentality. By behavior and actions that make no attempt to change the mainstream, and that can’t fundamentally win. And White Nationalism, at its best, is defined by a clear understanding of the big picture, and all its moving parts, that all other ideologies and “policy proscriptions” (cargo cultists) simply don’t grasp and haven’t thought about.

    The simple critique I would make of paleoconservatism and the ideology of Pat Buchanan is this: There’s no reason why it can’t become the kind of ideology that Con Inc. professionals used to fantasize about, which is a value system and policy program that all races can get behind and support: Blacks, Whites, Asians, Hispanics, Arabs, Indians, and even Jews. Paleoconservatism thus enables a situation where Whites are mixed into oblivion, and where no suspicion of Jewish hostility is tolerated or considered because enough of them, such as Stephen Miller, agitate for policies that paleocons wanted all along. And as we all know, policies solve everything.

    Nothing about the events of 2015-2025 has changed the underlying reality of Aryan demographic decline, anti-racist attitudes among all regular White families, a notorious refusal by normies to “see race” or take their own side racially, and of course, Jewish hostility. Stephen Miller supporting the correct policies means nothing because, if we could read his heart and mind, he most likely would display the same malevolence towards Aryans and all goyim that any leader of the ADL or the Mossad does.

    “So you’re saying all Jews should be suspected of hostility just because they are Jews?”

    I’m saying the only thing that would vindicate them as harmless would be an unconditional, 180 degree change in their behavior, beliefs, and rhetoric. Until the day arrives when Jews can be classified as “being so far from harm that we suspect none from them” (I’m inverting Cambria Will Not Yield with that line, may he rest in peace), the. yes, I suspect of Jews of being malevolent on account of their Jewishness. Not a single one of them supports:

    -Aryan Demographic Integrity and Living Space

    -Removal of Jews from all positions of power and influence in societies that they don’t demographically control

    Jews aren’t going to willingly surrender the power they’ve spent centuries accumulating. They aren’t going to surrender control of the media, governmental institutions, or private property through corporations such as Black Rock. Their strategy has gotten them this far. Why would they quit now?

    White Nationalists assume Jewish hostility as a constant, and we also assume the desirability of Demographic Security as a constant. We are chameleons on policies because the necessary policies change as the times and conditions change. I would encourage palocons and Trump supporters to consider the Big Picture and ask themselves where it is they want all this to head. Someone else will be President by 2029, and that someone could be a – gasp! – “Radical Democrat.” Then what?

    • @DP84,

      Well said.

      MAGAtards don’t understand that a hammer shaped like a dreidel is coming. This acts by Zion Don are the bait to lure the sheeple into their traps.

  12. I think to compare second coming of JESUS believers, with these Nietzscean adherent’s, is a mistake, to label us as cranks, is very unwise, you don’t like us, or what we believe, fine, but I resent, being lumped in with these Nietzscean fellows, it is way past time, for this divide, to be examined and discussed, the faint of heart should probably leave the room at this point , I also suggest, that it is way past time that the subject of the SECOND COMING itself, be discussed, if your not ashamed of the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST, why be ashamed and embarrassed to discuss his SECOND COMING, does the supernatural frighten you ? …..I see a bigger threat than the Nietzscean element, the rise of the LUKE WARM KNOW NOTHING’S, the SOUTHERN BOURBON INTELLECTUAL’S, not only preach and teach CHRIST CRUCIFIED, we wait for him to come back, because he said he would come back and we do it without shame or embarrassment, I personally do not feel inconvenienced, that the LORDS plan’s, circumvent my own, Fuentes should just declare A.HITLER the Messiah and himself the ANTIPOPE …

    • If Jesus was an actual God, he could not EVER be killed by his own creation.

      Humans cannot slay gods, but they can create them by ignorance, zealotry, and gaslighting.

      I don’t care to be grouped with Third Temple and rapture kooks.

  13. What stops me from being a paleoon is that I support big spending, believe in climate change and don’t believe in Jesus’s divinity (more of a Deist in views). Where I agree with paleocons is foreign policy and I also believe in stopping mass immigration, but believe poverty is the root cause of immigration. I would vote for Pat Buchanan. I didn’t vote for Trump since 2016. I think Buchanan is a paleocon, but Trump is someone who simply looks at the way the wind blows and plays to the paleocon audience. The way that Trump is better than George W Bush is that Trump doesn’t put as many resources into regime change, but he still strikes middle eastern countries in a more surgical manor, much like Obama did.

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