How Breitbart and Milo Smuggled White Nationalism Into the Mainstream (buzzfeednews.com)
Overview & Context
On October 5, 2017, BuzzFeed News published investigative reporting from Joseph Bernstein based on internal emails revealing how Breitbart News and its tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos collaborated with white nationalists and neo-Nazis—often while publicly disavowing them—thus mainstreaming extremist ideology through its platform.
Main Findings
- Internal agreement: Breitbart, under Steve Bannon, strategically welcomed alt-right voices. Bannon explicitly stated he intended Breitbart to become “the platform for the alt-right”.
- Milo’s coordination with extremists: Yiannopoulos regularly communicated with white nationalists (including Devin Saucier of American Renaissance and neo-Nazi contributors) for editorial input and story development—while maintaining public denials of extremist association.
- Flirting with overt racism: The internal documents included an incident where Yiannopoulos sang karaoke while neo-Nazis behind him performed a Nazi salute—evidence that Breitbart hosted extremist-friendly events under the guise of satire or entertainment.
Significance
- Ideological laundering: The article exposes how Breitbart deliberately framed content to sanitize extremist ideologies and make them palatable to wider conservative audiences.
- Media’s covert role: It highlights the powerful role of fringe media figures in steering public narrative and embedding white nationalism within broader political discourse.
Citation
OpenAI. (2025). Summary of “How Breitbart and Milo Smuggled White Nationalism Into the Mainstream”. Generated by ChatGPT (GPT‑4). Retrieved from chat.openai.com