Richard Spencer says he ‘influenced’ Stephen Miller in college: ‘We actually collaborated’

Speaking yesterday on The Richard Spencer Show, white supremacist and alt-right figurehead Richard Spencer claimed that he was a major influence on President Trump‘s senior adviser Stephen Miller while the two were in college together.

During the segment, Spencer’s co-host read him a question from a viewer who wanted to know more about his past relationship with Miller. The viewer also wondered why white nationalist podcasters refer to Miller as “our guy” when he’s Jewish.

“Stephen Miller and I were friends at Duke when I was a graduate student there in the history department and he was an undergraduate,” Spencer said in a video flagged by Right Wing Watch. “I think I’m four years older than him, or maybe five, so we’re roughly contemporaries although I was in a different position than he was. I actually met him at the Duke Conservative Union and I generally like Stephen. We’re very different you could say personally speaking, but we did get along.

Spencer went to say that he and Miller “actually collaborated.”

“We worked on an immigration debate, which we brought Peter Brimelow to campus, which in the context of 2007—and you know, this is totally pre-alt-right and so on—doing such a thing is pretty edgy,” Spencer continued.

Peter Brimelow, a former writer and editor for the National Review, has been described as a leader in the alt-right movement.

Although Spencer believes he influenced Miller’s views on issues such as immigration he said that he believes Miller would have “gotten to where he is today with or without me.”

“Clearly I was influencing him,” Spencer said. “I was a little bit older in this organization. I was the one pushing for the immigration debate, obviously. I cared about these issues. So clearly I influenced him, but am I decisive in his life or something? No, I don’t think so.”

Watch the video below, via Right Wing Watch:

Featured image via screen grab/The Atlantic

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.