By Lizzie Dearden, independent.co.uk
White supremacists have been filmed performing Hitler salutes and shouting “hail Trump!” during a speech by a leading member of the “alt-right” movement.
Richard B Spencer, president of the far-right National Policy Institute, made numerous allusions to Nazi ideology during his half-hour speech at a conference in Washington on Saturday.
“Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!” he shouted as members of the audience leapt to their feet applauding, with several making prolonged Hitler salutes.
“No one will honour us for losing gracefully, no one mourns the great crimes committed against us. For us it is conquer or die.”
Mr Spencer went on to attack the “mainstream media” for its treatment Donald Trump.
He used the slur “Lügenpresse”, meaning “lying press in German”, which was originally employed by Nazis and is gaining currency once again among the German far-right to insult reporting on the refugee crisis.
It was also heard being shouted at Trump rallies, where the Republican candidate frequently attacked the press, and has become a hashtag popular among some of his supporters on social media.
“The press has clearly decided to double down and wage war against the legitimacy of Trump and the continued existence of white America,” said Mr Spencer to more cheers. “But they are really opening up the door for us.”
The white nationalist, who claims he coined the term “alt-right”, also described journalists as “soulless Golem” – supernatural creates from Jewish folklore – “animated by some dark power”.
Footage broadcast by The Atlantic as part of an upcoming documentary on Mr Spencer showed his followers repeatedly performing Hitler salutes during the tirade, where he claimed America was a “white country [that] belongs to us”.
“To be white is to be a striver, a crusader, an explorer and a conqueror,” he continued.
