White supremacist Richard Spencer has announced that he now regrets voting for Donald Trump in 2016, following the targeted killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Spencer, one of the most vocal figures on the alt-right, said he can no longer support the president, believing he has led the country to the brink of war after killing Soleimani in an airstrike.
"I deeply regret voting for and promoting Donald Trump in 2016," Spencer tweeted.
"To the people of Iran, there are millions of Americans who do not want war, who do not hate you, and who respect your nation and its history.
"After our traitorous elite is brought to justice, we hope to achieve peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness," he added.
The remarks were made prior to Trump's announcement in which he said there will be no further military action against Iran. The country had launched two missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing U.S. service members in retaliation for Soleimani's death.
"Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world," Trump said in a statement at the Grand Foyer of the White House.
"No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken, the dispersal of forces, and an early warning system that worked very well."
Trump had previously threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites— a potential war crime—and that the country itself "WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD" if they retaliated with force to the killing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander.
This is not the first time Spencer has spoken out against Trump's military actions.
In 2017, he led a protest in Washington after the president launched a strike on a Syrian airbase.
Far-right demonstrators chanted "we want walls, not war" outside the White House during the protests, Buzzfeed News reported at the time.
Spencer even added a Syrian flag to his social media handles as a sign of support. The white nationalist has now added the Iranian flag to his Twitter profile name.
Spencer rose to prominence in 2016 after shouting "hail Trump!" and being greeted with Nazi salutes at an event in Washington shortly after Trump was elected.
He was also one of the main organizers of the neo-Nazi "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 in which counter-protester Heather Heye was killed after being struck by a car driven by white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr.
Spencer has been contacted for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
