You guys remember Richard Spencer, right? He’s the Nazi/Alt-Right d-bag who openly Sieg-Heils Donald Trump. Spencer also became somewhat infamous on Inauguration Day for getting punched in the face in the middle of giving an interview about his Pepe the Frog brooch. Well, Spencer turned up to the annual CPAC conference yesterday, because let’s be totally and completely honest: 90% of those people share 90% of his views, if not more on both counts. Still, I guess CPAC didn’t want to LOOK like Nazis, so they kicked him out. Spencer bought a ticket and he had credentials – media credentials?? – but security apparently still tossed him. But before that Spencer spent 45 minutes in the lobby, chatting to reporters about how Depeche Mode is the “official band of the alt-right.” Huh?
Depeche Mode wants nothing to do with “lifelong” fan Richard Spencer. At the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, Spencer was asked if he likes rock music.
“Depeche Mode is the official band of the alt-right,” the white nationalist responded, according to New York Magazine. Spencer claimed later on Twitter that he was “joking,” but the rock band still distanced themselves from the alt-right leader.
“Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer or the Alt-Right and does not support the Alt-Right movement,” Depeche Mode’s rep said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
The lyrics to the British band’s 1984 hit “People are People” should probably have hinted to Spencer that they’d disagree with his values: “People are people/So why should it be/You and I should get along so awfully/So we’re different colors/And we’re different creeds/And different people have different needs.”
More information on Spencer’s pop culture tastes will have to wait for another day, as he was kicked out of the conference while holding court in the lobby of the Gaylord National Resort.
“His views are repugnant and have absolutely nothing to do with conservatism or what we do here,” CPAC spokesman Ian Walters told NPR. “He’s anti-free markets, anti-Constitution, anti-pluralism. This was one bad egg who bought a ticket.” Walters also described Spencer as “vile,” “venomous,” “horrible” and “repulsive.”
“Anti-pluralism” is as close as a CPAC person will get to calling Spencer a white nationalist a–hole who who sells anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry. Obviously, good on Depeche Mode for shutting this sh-t down in a hurry. What in the world did Depeche Mode ever do to Nazis, for the love of God? “Personal Jesus” is still one of the greatest songs ever made, btw. Obviously, people on Twitter did a Depeche Mode remix for the Punching Nazis video.
In honor of Richard Spencer saying Depeche Mode is "the official band of the alt-right," here he is getting punched to Just Can’t Get Enough
— shauna (@goldengateblond) February 23, 2017
Also keep in mind: while CPAC kicked out Richard Spencer, they invited Steve Bannon into the fold with open arms. Bannon and Reince Priebus did a Q&A session together and… um, they do not get along at all. I could talk about their body language and their unhinged, alternative-factual reality for days, but I’ll just leave this clip for you instead.
Please tell me somebody else saw Priebus' reaction to Bannon trying to touch him. #CPAC2017
— Kyle Alvarado (@KJAlvarado124) February 23, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
