THE TRIUMPH OF THEIR WILL: White nationalists are building political power from within the Republican Party.

• Author: Ryan, Melissa

JAMES ALLSUP'S POLITICAL CAREER SHOULD HAVE BEEN OVER BEFORE IT BEGAN.

The prolific far-right YouTuber was forced to resign from his position as president of the College Republicans at Washington State University after a video surfaced of him marching in the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. The national College Republicans denounced Allsup, and students in his own chapter complained that it had been "radicalized" since Allsup's election in 2015.

But Allsup, a member of the far-right white nationalist group Identity Evropa, wasn't done with Republican politics.

In June 2018, Allsup was elected as a precinct committee officer for the Republican Party in Whitman County, Washington State, a two-year position that involves building ties between the party and voters. This caused a rift among Washington State Republicans. While some vowed to prevent him from performing the duties of his office, then-Spokane County GOP Chair Cecily Wright spoke publicly on Allsup's behalf and hosted an event for him.

Months later the Whitman County Republican Committee voted to strip Allsup's position of all its duties and responsibilities, rendering it essentially meaningless. But, as of presstime, Allsup remains an elected official of the Washington State GOP, even if his office is now merely symbolic.

These days, Allsup is mostly focused on growing his audience on YouTube, where he concentrates on national issues and rarely mentions politics in his home state. Forbes magazine highlighted Allsup in an article profiling conservatives making a living largely on YouTube. YouTube recently demonetized Allsup's channel, making it much more difficult for him to profit from his videos. (Full disclosure: Allsup has made two videos about me, which I have not watched.)

Allsup is not an outlier but part of a broader movement by white nationalists and male supremacists to build political power in America through the Republican Party. It would be easy to dismiss him as a basement-dweller making YouTube videos and podcasts; but Allsup is part of a larger far-right movement that has made significant inroads in taking over the GOP, aided by a President who treats neo-Nazis and white nationalists as a valued political constituency group.

Identity Evropa, classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, counts Allsup as a member and supporter. The group, which recently tried to rebrand itself as the American Identity Movement, is known for targeting college-age white men for recruitment. It urges its members to become involved in local Republican politics and try to take over local GOP organizations at the ground level.

Patrick Casey, Identity Evropa's current leader, posted about his involvement with his local party in 2017, encouraging members to follow his lead. Here's what Casey, who goes by the handle Reinhard Wolff, had to say:

Today I decided...