I attended a woke right event. Here’s what worried me.

By Kevin Briggins, Op-ed contributor Saturday, October 31, 2026

James Fishback lost the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary, receiving only about 10% of the vote, but that hasn't stopped his political ambitions. He has continued his college campus tour, speaking at several Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapters across the South.

This raises an important question: If he is no longer campaigning for votes in Florida, what is he building?

My concern is that he is building a following among young white Christian men by appealing to their frustrations through identity politics, grievance and ethnic scapegoating.

TPUSA is an enormously influential conservative organization, which is why this matters.

I had the opportunity to attend Fishback's speech at Auburn University. I want to acknowledge that he is an excellent communicator. He was convincing and relatable. However, what I witnessed was a demonstration of how effectively a message rooted in grievance and scapegoating can appeal to an audience that feels alienated from institutions and leaders.

I intentionally sat in the back of the room because my primary purpose was to observe. I wanted to see the response he received. Was this an open-minded crowd that had come to hear an alternative viewpoint, or was it a welcoming crowd that already shared Fishback's views? I think it is safe to say that the crowd of roughly 200 students, mostly white males, overwhelmingly consisted of Fishback supporters.

For those unfamiliar with Fishback's views, he is part of what is often called the woke Right. The woke Right consists of individuals who once aligned with basic conservative principles but have since been “awakened” to what they believe is the reality that, since World War II, America and the West have been under Jewish control.

Consider this quote from William Luther Pierce, founder of the National Alliance:

“As long as the Jews maintain control, America and our people will continue down the slope of oblivion. Non White immigration will continue. The White birth rate will remain far below replacement level. The media will continue pushing multiculturalism and race mixing, and the Jews will continue their efforts to reduce our freedoms into choices of Hair curlers and ball games.”

Fishback opened his speech by appealing to the American Revolution and the founding of our nation. Speaking to a crowd of young men, he highlighted the youth of the Founders and what they were able to accomplish. He challenged these young men to recognize that, just as the American Revolution was led by young men, so too would the current revolution be led by them.

But he didn’t stop there. The revolution also had to deal with Israel. He stated:

“And in the same way that our founding fathers declared their independence from Britain 250 years ago, I am here to tell you unapologetically and unequivocally that to save America, we must declare our independence from Israel.”

This statement was met with cheering and applause.

We can agree that it is important to call young men to leadership and encourage them to take responsibility for and care for their communities and nation. Civic duty is critical to a healthy, flourishing society. But Fishback's argument goes beyond a call to civic responsibility. His claim that America is under the control of a foreign power is a serious assertion that requires evidence, not merely general acceptance.

This is a common claim among the woke Right, but it is not an accurate assessment of the situation. It ignores geopolitical alignment, American foreign policy objectives and the concept of mutual interest. The assertion that anything the United States does that aligns with Israel's interests proves that Israel controls the United States is, at best, ignorant and, at worst, intentionally manipulative.

For example, proponents of this argument often blame Israel for pulling the United States into “forever wars.” However, they ignore the fact that Israel opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and warned the United States that removing Saddam Hussein could destabilize the region and empower Iran. There is no sound basis for attributing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the U.S.-Israel relationship simply because the two countries have a close strategic partnership.

Fishback went on to address other issues, many of which are legitimate concerns that require our attention, such as immigration and housing affordability. However, the problem was not necessarily the issues themselves. It was how he framed them as an us-versus-them conflict. He used legitimate problems to cultivate a sense of grievance and victimhood.

For example, he blamed the unaffordability of housing on immigration. He blamed the inability to find a job on immigration. He then connected these issues to the difficulty young people face in getting married. The message was clear: All your problems are caused by “those people.” If we get rid of those people, we can take our country back, and all your problems will be solved.

Of course, this tactic is nothing new. This is Identity Politics 101. We have seen the political Left use this approach for decades. Conservatives have historically built support by appealing to shared values rather than group identity. However, that has changed as some on the Right have recognized that this tactic works.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Use identity politics to create a victim or oppressed class.

Step 2: Identify an out-group and claim that it holds an unjust amount of power that it uses to oppress the victimized group.

Step 3: Convince the victimized group that the system itself is tainted and irredeemable.

Step 4: Promise a utopian society that can only be achieved through revolution, led, of course, by prominent voices within the movement.

Step 5: Channel the anger of the victimized group into action aimed at tearing down the existing order and seizing power.

What concerned me most was how effective Fishback was. The young men in that room appeared fully convinced by his framing of their problems and the solutions he proposed. I witnessed propaganda at work in real time. These young men enthusiastically applauded and agreed with him, much like a Southern Baptist congregation listening to a fiery sermon on a Sunday morning. Fishback was speaking to their souls.

If something isn't done, we risk losing a generation of young men. They have legitimate grievances, and they don't feel as though anyone is listening to them except men like Fishback and Nick Fuentes. These are the voices helping them make sense of the world around them.

Recently, Owen Strachan, a conservative Christian theologian, wrote a post on X addressed to Israel, condemning antisemitism among conservatives and affirming Evangelical support for the nation of Israel. While I agreed with much of what Strachan said, one response from a young white Christian man stood out to me.

He wrote:

“Many young men my age do not hold this view. They have questions about our relationship with Israel that, for many years, were swept under the rug or dismissed. Many may interpret your tone in this post as being part of that. I certainly hope that it is not.

These questions and the feelings of resentment towards those who do not answer the questions are real. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to persuade young men my age away from resentment, but it is still a real feeling shared by many.”

He went on to say:

“The reason that someone like Nick Fuentes, whom I personally despise, grew so popular with my generation is because older men who were supposed to lead and teach us decided instead to brush these questions under the rug.”

I feel for this young man because what I witnessed at the Fishback event reflects what he has been experiencing within his own friend group and social circles. We are losing young white men to those who are manipulating them through the Left-wing tactics of identity politics and grievance. Until now, we have failed to provide them with an adequate alternative.

This isn't about defending Israel. It's about giving these young people the truth and providing them with a sound framework for understanding the world around them. Conservatives need to give them a proper historical and geopolitical framework for understanding the relationship between America and Israel. Pastors need to provide them with a framework for understanding God's Church and His plan for humanity, one that is not centered on any ethnicity, whether white or Jewish.

The majority of these young men identify as Christians. They are looking for purpose and meaning in their lives, but they are being drawn to an ideology that conflates their identity as Christians with their identity as white people. This distorts their understanding of these issues. Rather than viewing the challenges facing America through a spiritual lens, as matters that call for faithfulness to God, they are being taught to view them through the lens of the flesh, as battles against perceived threats to white America. In this worldview, restoring God to America becomes synonymous with ensuring that America remains predominantly white.

Is the mission of the Church to save America by ensuring that it remains white? As Christians, should we prioritize loving and caring for those who share our racial identity over others? Of course not. The Bible makes it clear that, as followers of Christ and heirs to God's promises, we are one new people. We are not to regard one another according to the flesh. We are not called to prioritize the well-being of our own tribal group, yet that is precisely what these young men are being discipled to do.

The Church must help young men understand that their deepest identity is not found in being white, American or part of a political movement. It is found in belonging to Christ. Their calling is not to reclaim an imagined ethnic supremacy but to pursue faithfulness, love their neighbors, build families, serve their communities and seek the good of the society in which God has placed them.

So instead of dismissing these young men, take them out to lunch and have hard discussions with them. Invite them into your men's Bible study or get involved with campus ministries and organizations like TPUSA. Lastly, pray for these young men. Pray for them to have discernment and to reject the calls to racial tribalism and victimhood.

Pray for our nation. The future of these young men matters. So does the future of the Church. We cannot afford to surrender either to movements that replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the politics of ethnic grievance.