Paul R. Ramsey | |
---|---|
Born | 1963 (age 60–61)
Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Other names | ramzpaul, RamZPaul |
Alma mater | Colorado State University |
Occupation(s) | Vlogger, YouTube personality, public speaker |
Paul Ray Ramsey (also known as ramzpaul and RamZPaul, born 1963) is an American far-right vlogger, YouTube personality, and public speaker. [1] [2] [3]
The New York Times has described Ramsey as a "popular alt-right internet personality", [4] and the Swiss newspaper Basellandschaftliche Zeitung identified him as an important representative of the alt-right. [5] Media Matters for America, The Forward, and the Southern Poverty Law Center have called Ramsey a white nationalist. [6] [7] [8] He spoke at the 2013 conference held by the online magazine American Renaissance. [8] Ramsey replied to a question posed by Matthew Heimbach at the conference about the creation of a whites only state: "We need to Balkanize and create our own homeland. We have a right to exist." [9][ better source needed]
According to journalist Philipp Löpfe , Ramsey uses comedy to convey a far-right message. [10]
Ramsay began pseudonymously posting YouTube videos under the handle RamZPaul starting in 2009. He posted humorous video rants. By 2016, Ramsay had added a larger amount of explicitly alt-right content to his channel, such as the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory. [11]
In November 2016, Ramsey was a featured speaker at a conference held by the white supremacist National Policy Institute (NPI). The NPI was founded by Richard B. Spencer, who also is generally credited with coining the term alt-right. [12] After video emerged of several conference attendees giving the Nazi salute during a speech by Spencer, Ramsey disassociated himself from the NPI founder, as well as the term alt-right, saying, "You don't want to tie your brand to something that's ultimate evil." [12] [13] Ramsey was listed as a speaker for the 2018 Awakening conference in Helsinki, a self-described " ethno-nationalist" conference. [14] [15]