Groypers operate as a leader‑centric network that blends online propaganda with in‑person disruption to push white nationalist and Christian nationalist ideas into mainstream conservatism. Researchers describe a loose coalition tied to influencers, centered on Nicholas J. Fuentes, with tactics that normalize extremist content through irony, dog whistles, and repeated appearances inside conservative spaces.
Origins and name
Groyper traces to a derivative meme of Pepe the Frog that became a calling card for a cluster of far‑right accounts. Movement visibility surged during the 2019 Groyper War, when followers packed Q&A lines at Turning Point USA campus events to corner speakers on immigration, Israel, and LGBTQ rights. Disruption peaked when Donald Trump Jr.’s UCLA event ended early after organizers canceled the Q&A. Fuentes then staged a Groyper Leadership Summit across town from Turning Point’s Student Action Summit, framing himself as an insurgent alternative to “Conservative Inc.”
Vision and mission
Movement narratives seek to reforge American conservatism around ethnonationalism and hardline Christian identity. Messaging frames a defense of “traditionalism” while directing resentment at pluralist democracy, immigration, feminism, LGBTQ rights, and Jews through deniable rhetoric. Supporters describe Groypers as the hard‑right flank of the Republican Party while seeking to drag institutions toward a reactionary program.
Goals and measurable objectives
Near‑term goals focus on entryism inside youth conservative institutions and county‑level party structures, growth of a broadcaster ecosystem on Cozy.tv and allied platforms, and dependable monetization through livestream tips and alternative payment rails. Campus organizing remains a priority because Q&A theater and viral clips convert attention into recruitment and donations.
Primary targets
Targets include mainstream conservative brands that resist ethnonationalist doctrine, most visibly Turning Point USA, Young America’s Foundation, and high‑profile figures such as Ben Shapiro and Dan Crenshaw. Question scripts emphasize Israel policy, demographic anxiety, and sexuality to force polarizing soundbites and to siphon sympathizers.
Membership and recruitment
Membership functions through follower allegiance rather than dues. Participation skews male and Gen Z, with recruitment pipelines through livestream communities, manosphere spaces, and gaming‑adjacent forums that reward edgy humor and transgressive identity signaling. Memes and parasocial bonds with stream hosts act as a bridge from soft nationalist rhetoric to overt antisemitism and white identity talking points.
Organizational structure
Leadership revolves around Fuentes as brand, scheduler, and talent aggregator. The America First Foundation, a 501(c)(4) created in 2020, functions as a legal shell for events and media and reported small revenues with fluctuating expenses, while AFPAC functions as the flagship rally that validates status and forges ties with elected officials from the hard right. Organizational rings include inner‑circle streamers, adjacent personalities who cross‑post content, and local campus cells such as the short‑lived America First Students.
Operations and tactics
Operations follow a cycle. Streamers seed narratives during live shows and in Telegram blasts, fans brigading comment sections and Q&A mics generate confrontation clips, and the same streamers replay those clips to claim proof of strength and censorship. Harassment campaigns and dog‑whistle questions produce on‑camera friction that feeds the next stream, reinforcing the in‑group’s sense of siege and purpose.
Narrative package
Core themes include demographic replacement fear, antisemitic tropes wrapped in foreign policy questions, anti‑LGBTQ agitation framed as moral order, and Christian nationalist revivalism. Irony and “just joking” disclaimers protect messaging while keeping recruitment paths open for mainstream conservatives disillusioned with party elites.
Influence and political bridges
AFPAC drew sitting officials such as Representatives Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene in earlier cycles, normalizing proximity between an extremist conference and elected office. Fuentes helped anchor Stop the Steal mobilizations and popularized slogans such as “Destroy the GOP,” while praising Putin at AFPAC in 2022 to signal a pro‑Kremlin posture. A brief, high‑profile dinner with Kanye West and Donald Trump in 2022 amplified the network’s reach through mainstream headlines.
Resourcing and logistics
Livestream superchats and tips form the cash engine. After bans across major processors and platforms, revenue shifted to alternative rails such as Entropy, small platforms like DLive before suspension, and periodic cryptocurrency windfalls including a prominent bitcoin transfer ahead of January 6 traced by Chainalysis and reported by Reuters. Public filings show America First Foundation running lean year to year, with minimal staff and modest balances. Streamer pages on Cozy.tv and Kick continue to direct audiences to Entropy for donations.
Internal fracture and constraints
Deplatforming lowered reach on mainstream channels while tightening the echo system on alternative platforms. Internal splits emerged in 2021 and 2022, including high‑visibility departures of Patrick Casey and Jaden McNeil, driven by infighting, doxing fears, and suspicion of informants. Dependency on one personality heightens risk because legal, civil, or financial shocks to the leader ripple through the whole network.
Status in 2024–2025
Fuentes regained a megaphone on X in May 2024 after a reinstatement, then declared a renewed “Groyper War” against Trump’s campaign team over staffing and messaging, signaling a strategy of pressure from the right. News cycles in September 2025 again surfaced the Groyper label following the killing of Charlie Kirk, though reporting to date shows a murky motive set with mixed meme references and no proven command‑and‑control link. Chinese and Indian outlets amplified that framing in translation and summary reporting, which highlights how the brand now travels across languages.
Comparative snapshot — structure to action to outcomes Element Description Representative examples Typical outcome Strategic vision Recast US conservatism around white identity and Christian nationalism AFPAC speeches that bless ethnonationalist frames and praise for Russia as civilizational ally Normalization attempts inside parts of the GOP coalition Primary objectives Entryism on campuses and county parties, growth of Cozy.tv ecosystem, donation reliability Q&A takeovers at TPUSA events, local precinct pushes, streamer cross‑promotions Recruitment surges after viral confrontations Targets “Conservative Inc,” pro‑Israel hawks, libertarian and neocon figures Ben Shapiro, Dan Crenshaw, TPUSA roadshows Intra‑right feuds that push window toward extremes Resourcing Livestream tips, Entropy rails, small crypto bursts, lean 501(c)(4) DLive revenue before bans, Reuters‑noted bitcoin transfer, AFF Form 990 Fragmented income with deplatform risk Organizational form Leader‑centric hub with tiers of streamers and ad hoc student cells America First Foundation shell, America First Students, Cozy.tv roster Agility with high single‑point‑of‑failure risk
Indicators to track — movement health and operational tempo Indicator Collection cue Assessment logic AFPAC venue confirmations and speaker lists AFF site updates, hotel cancellations, sponsor shifts Strong speaker list signals momentum and elite cover, venue churn signals pressure Donation rail stability Entropy links live, processor bans, crypto inflows Stable rails sustain content cadence and travel budgets Campus disruption frequency Video evidence of Q&A takeovers, police reports, student org filings Rising frequency shows entryism success and recruitment lift Inner‑circle cohesion Public schisms, expulsions, counter‑streams Splits lower capacity and stall growth cycles Mainstream platform access X reinstatements, community notes impact, reach metrics Direct access multiplies recruitment while watchdog responses blunt spread
Intelligence assessment
Evidence points to a movement that treats conflict with mainstream conservatives as a growth engine. Entryism and meme‑driven confrontation draw attention that streamers convert into money and identity reinforcement. A leader‑centric spine produces coherent branding and rapid message discipline, though the same structure introduces fragility because legal or financial hits on the leader degrade the entire system. Deplatforming squeezed reach while sharpening in‑group cohesion on alternative platforms, which sustains revenue but caps expansion. Renewed access to X in 2024 reopened a mass‑reach vector and restored pressure campaigns against the GOP from the right. Cross‑language pickup in Russian and Chinese outlets shows a brand that now circulates internationally as shorthand for a youthful US far‑right subculture.
Outlook
Expect two parallel paths. Public conflict with mainstream conservatives will continue because pressure against high‑profile figures yields the largest recruitment spikes. Institutional consolidation through AFPAC and the America First Foundation will remain uneven because venues, sponsors, and processors introduce recurring friction. A narrow but durable base of young men will keep the streamer economy alive as long as donation links remain stable. Enforcement actions, civil litigation, or payment rail losses will drive oscillations in tempo, while public‑facing splits will slow growth when factionalism resurfaces.
References — APA format
Anti‑Defamation League. (2022). Congressional testimony—Nicholas Fuentes, the Groypers, and January 6. U.S. House Select Committee. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000062430/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000062430.pdf
Coda Story. (2021, July 9). Far‑right influencers made thousands of dollars a day on a little‑known gaming platform DLive. https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/far-right-video-streaming/
Institute for Strategic Dialogue. (2022). Groypers—Explainer and PDF report. https://www.isdglobal.org/explainers/groypers/ and https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Groypers-External-October-2022-1.pdf
ProPublica. (2023). America First Foundation—Form 990 filings. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/851088352/202313359349301101/full
Reuters. (2021, January 14). Large bitcoin payment made to far‑right individuals before U.S. Capitol attack. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/large-bitcoin-payment-made-to-far-right-individuals-before-us-capitol-attack-idUSKBN29J2PL/
Southern Poverty Law Center. (2021–2023). Hatewatch reporting on Fuentes, Cozy.tv, and Jan. 6. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nick-fuentes/ and https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/alex-jones-alleged-fbi-monitoring-nick-fuentes-its-trap/ and https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/year-hate-extremism-report-2021/
The Atlantic. (2019, November 13). Why the trolls booed at Don Jr.’s event. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/don-trump-jr-booed/601807/
Wired. (2022, February 14). Dangerous meme in US politics—America First. https://www.wired.com/story/america-first-meme-politics/
Wikipedia. (2025). Groypers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groypers and America First Political Action Conference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Political_Action_Conference and Nick Fuentes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Fuentes
Vanity Fair. (2025, September 12). Groypers, Helldivers 2, Furries—what do the messages left by Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer mean. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-memes-meaning
Xiang, S. translations via Chinese outlets. (2025, September 14). Gun case coverage and Groyper references. Sina Finance. https://finance.sina.com.cn/
Arabic and Persian references
Arabic Wikipedia editors. (2025). Nick Fuentes. https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/نيك_فوينتيس
Persian Wikipedia editors. (2024). Nick Fuentes. https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/نیک_فوئنتس
Notes on recency and uncertainty
Reporting around the Kirk homicide and any link to Groypers remains fluid. Analysts should treat evolving references in press and social media as preliminary until charging documents, affidavits, or sworn testimony establish motive and association.