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Patrick Bet-David airs a friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes

Podcaster Bet-David welcomed the Holocaust denier to address the show’s nearly 3 million subscribers: “You’re sarcastic, you’re a troll — you got all of that, so it’s great for camera”

Written by Jack Wheatley & Reed McMaster

Research contributions from Alyssa Tirrell & Jane Lee

Published

On Tuesday, self-categorized business podcaster Patrick Bet-David hosted white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes on The PBD Podcast, where Bet-David praised the Holocaust denier and downplayed his extremist ideology. The popular podcast is a big shift for Fuentes, who has previously been banned from numerous social media platforms and was even removed from the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023.

“I actually think his audience is going to like it,” Bet-David said of the conversation, after noting that people would ask why he hosted Fuentes. “I think conservatives are going to like it because you’re finally getting to know who this guy is.” 

Over the course of the interview, Fuentes asserted that white and Black people can be distinguished by culture and genetics and Jewish people are “powerful” because “they are extremely connected,” which he called “detrimental for America.” Wired recently wrote about Fuentes’ “plan to conquer America” to “bring his vision of an America dominated by white Christians to fruition.”

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  • Fuentes is a white nationalist livestreamer who has peddled Holocaust denial, vitriolic racism and misogyny, and election denial, and is trying to grow his base

    • Wired recently wrote about Fuentes’ “plan to conquer America,” explaining that he’s trying to “leverage his rapidly growing audience, and a new level of influence among more mainstream figures in the GOP and MAGA movement, to build a nationwide secret society of sorts, which he believes will help bring his vision of an America dominated by white Christians to fruition.” WIRED also noted that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s recent killing has boosted Fuentes’ efforts:  “Rather than damaging Fuentes’ popularity, Kirk’s death has accelerated it. His X following has grown by almost 175,000 since Kirk’s death, and he has seen his following on Rumble increase by more than 100,000.” [Wired, 9/23/25]
    • Fuentes is a white nationalist livestreamer who has peddled Holocaust denial, vitriolic racism and misogyny, and election denial. He was present at the 2017 deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and addressed supporters outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. On his show, America First, which he streams on Rumble, Fuentes has crafted his persona around his disdain for Jews, telling his audience, “I’m just like Hitler.” He has also argued that “Blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part.” In the past, Fuentes has been banned from numerous social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter), which reinstated him in 2024. Fuentes was removed and barred from entering the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023 because of his “hateful racist rhetoric and actions.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 9/24/25; Media Matters, 3/31/25; Reuters, 1/25/23; Axios, 5/3/24; NBC, 3/3/23]
    • Bet-David is an entrepreneur who runs a right-leaning show categorized as a “business” podcast. Bet-David's podcast, PBD Podcast, has over 2.75 million subscribers on YouTube and was one of multiple self-categorized nonpolitical podcasts that helped boost Trump ahead of the 2024 election. Currently his interview with Fuentes sits at over 1.6 million views. [Bloomberg, 3/14/25; Apple podcasts, accessed 9/24/25; YouTube, accessed 9/24/25, 9/24/25] 

  • Bet-David praised Fuentes repeatedly and provided the white nationalist influencer a more mainstream platform to discuss his views

    • At the onset of the interview, Bet-David said “the obvious question is, why would you put Nick Fuentes on your podcast,” but claimed conservatives and Jewish people — as well as Fuentes’ audience — would “like” the resulting conversation. “I actually think his audience is going to like it,” he said. “I think conservatives are going to like it because you’re finally getting to know who this guy is. I actually think -- this is going to sound weird -- I think Jews and Israel is going to like it. That’s kind of crazy. Yes, I actually believe that.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25]
    • At various points in the interview, Bet-David expressed admiration toward Fuentes, lauding his “talent” and “sense of humor,” calling it his “secret weapon.” Bet-David remarked: “The way I’ve made my money over the last, you know, whatever, 25 years in insurance and finance was watching who has talent. … I see you, the way you communicate — very, very talented, very capable, very talented — and I’ve expressed this before on this show.” Before the show ended, Bet-David continued his praise, saying, “You can have all the brains you want, you can be a very good communicator, but if you don’t have that funny, sense-of-humor side, that is a secret weapon that can’t be taught. … You’re sarcastic, you’re a troll — you got all of that, so it’s great for camera.” Bet-David then added: “Nick, I really appreciate you coming out. I got respect for you that you paid for it by yourself. Allow me to pay for you next time if you come out. You don’t have to worry about the driving — let us at least take care of your flight. … I look forward to many more conversations that we have together.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25, 9/23/25]
    • Bet-David argued Fuentes should stop saying things like the N-word because it causes people to “question your intelligence” and he's “above that.” He stated, “For a person who knows how to communicate as well as you do, when you use those words, you get an average person to question your intelligence. And you don't need to do that. You're above that.”  [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25]
    • After asking Fuentes about his past commentary calling interracial sex “degenerate,” Bet-David argued that Fuentes should be more “careful with what you're saying.” Bet-David also explained that one of his kids will probably go into politics, and noted, “You have an opportunity to mentor them to learn from the mistakes you made, because whether you know it or not, you got a lot of kids that follow you, more than they follow me.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25, 9/23/25]

  • Fuentes reminisced about his hometown where “everybody’s white,” attacked Jews, argued that “race is real,” and defended a past racist statement because he didn’t know he was being recorded

    • Fuentes said nonwhite people are “not quite like us” and that white and Black people have different “genetics.” Fuentes said that in college, “the big topic” of debates he was having in person and online was “demographic change. America was a white country. It’s becoming a nonwhite country through immigration,” adding, “They’re not quite like us — can they ever be like us? What does it mean to be white versus Black, or white versus any other race for that matter?” He continued, “You have white people and Black people, they come from specific places and they bring with them their genetics, they bring with them their culture, their way of doing things.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25]
    • Explaining his upbringing, Fuentes reminisced about his hometown, a place where “everybody’s white” and “everybody’s Catholic,” saying he wants to raise his kids in a place like that but noting that “my slice of America … it’s a dying breed.” Fuentes claimed his hometown was “untouched by the progressive politics, by a lot of the diversity, even the crime. It’s safe, white-picket fences.” He said that it’s a “totally different story” when he attended college, noting “Boston’s obviously super diverse,” and “all foreign students, they’re all Chinese, they're all from these Asian countries. And there’s also, it’s a little dangerous, there’s a little criminal element and everyone on the campuses, they’re militant left-wing.” He added that “most of the country looks like this now, actually.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25] 
    • Fuentes said he’s more concerned about “Jews” than Muslims, saying Jews are “more powerful” in American society because “they are extremely connected,” which he said was ”detrimental for America" and claimed “their Jewish identity supersedes their local identity." [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25]
    • Fuentes said that “Miami’s like a Caribbean country. It doesn’t even feel like America." [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25] 
    • Fuentes said that “race is real,” echoing his past commentary about “race realism,” which Vox says is a repackaging of “scientific racism.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25; YouTube, No Jumper, 10/19/22; Vox, 3/12/25]
    • Bet-David shared a video of Fuentes making a racist statement, and Fuentes said he agreed it was racist but explained that he didn’t know he was being recorded. In an old video, Fuentes was asked: “Would you say that me having sex with my dog is the same thing as me having sex with a Black man?” Fuentes replied: “No, but they would both be degenerate.” After replaying the video, Bet-David noted, “That’s kind of racist,” and Fuentes replied, “I agree,” but then added: “But, let’s remember the context,” claiming he didn’t know he was being recorded. [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 9/23/25]