The Duke Lacrosse Scandal
Prior to establishing the Alt-Right, Richard Spencer was a graduate student at Duke University where he found a kindred spirit in Stephen Miller. Spencer began mentoring Stephen Miller after they "met at the Duke Conservative Union in 2006." Spencer says he "'first became aware' of Miller at Duke after"[1] Miller stood up "for white lacrosse players falsely accused in 2006 of gang raping a black woman. Spencer also defended the Duke lacrosse players, writing about the case for Pat Buchanan’s American Conservative, which later hired him as an editor." [2]
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“He certainly understood the media and how to get his message out there,” Spencer says of Miller. “He was going on Fox News even as an undergraduate—really remarkable...I could only be impressed.” [1]
"As he expounded nightly on CNN and on The O’Reilly Factor, among other television shows, it became apparent that the sordid allegations surrounding the case gave Miller the perfect opportunity to hone the right-wing political views he had espoused since adolescence." [1]
Miller would demonstrate that his support for the lacrosse players had less to do with moral imperative and more to do with the opportunity to exploit – to frame the issue as a way to advance his views and public visibility.
The three white players were eventually exonerated. They were each awarded $20 million after suffering a year of wrongful accusation.
"“For many at Duke, the last year offered a horrifying tutorial in the moral bankruptcy of the left’s politically correct orthodoxy and the corruption of our culture at its hands,” he wrote. “Three of our peers faced a devastating year-long persecution because they were white and their accuser black.” [1]
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SOURCES:
[1] How Stephen Miller Rode White Rage from Duke’s Campus to Trump’s West Wing
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/stephen-miller-duke-donald-trump
[2] Trump’s Newest Senior Adviser Seen as a White Nationalist Ally
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/trumps-newest-senior-adviser-seen-ally-white-nationalists/
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
[1] ‘Defend why we are conservative’: Duke College Republicans club revived amid campus tensions on ideological diversity
https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/10/duke-university-duke-college-republicans-reestablishment-2024-election-donald-trump-2020-disbanding-conservative-representation-higher-education-free-speech
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American Hospitality is a free and independent project made possible by people like you! If you find this information helpful, please contribute a few bucks via venmo HERE or make a tax deductible donation to the non-profit supporting this story, the Media Working Group HERE.
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