Milo, Fallen Angel of the Alt-Right

Most likely, if Milo Yiannopoulos spoke with a southern U.S. accent, no one would have cared. Or more directly, he would have been too eccentric to pay any attention to. Because if nothing else, Milo, as he is known in the U.S., is colorful. He is foreign – British – and on top of that, his mother is Greek. He is gay, Catholic, opposes immigration, feminism, gay marriage, and the idea that people can change their sex. Among the things that he likes are Donald Trump, video games, and having sex with black men, which, according to him, proves he isn’t racist. On his Grindr profile, an app for people of his orientation to hook up, under his name is the phrase: “blacks only.” “I could come up with a formula to achieve the same effect, like, say, ‘nine inches and over,’” the man himself has said.

That is how Milo has been converted into a figure in American politics. The alt-right, which is nothing more than the extreme right of the 21st century, has adopted him as their star. Even the Conservative Political Action Conference invited him to speak at its annual assembly that is held this week in Washington.

That the lifelong conservatives who are CPAC have adopted Milo signifies the collapse of that ideology in favor of the alt-right, which, according to the star (now in decline) of the movement, is based on three things: the rejection of free commerce, opposition to immigration, and saying no to political correctness.

Until this week. In only 24 hours, Yiannopoulos lost everything. That includes his job as director of the opinion section of Breitbart News, which was Trump’s largest media supporter, and whose leading manager, Steve Bannon, served as Trump’s campaign manager and is now the president’s closest political adviser. Yiannopoulous’ invitation has also been rescinded to participate at CPAC’s annual reunion. The publishing giant Simon and Schuster, owner of the CBS television station, has canceled Yiannopoulous’ contract for the publication of his new book, for which he would have earned an estimated 237,000 euros (approximately $250,000).

Milo, king of insults, of “they told me to’s,” and alternative facts (traditionally known as lies) has not fallen victim to the left. On the contrary. His (probably temporary) downfall has come from people like him, like Breitbart, and like all the false news networks that are marking the political debate in the United States – a debate in which there only seems to be one rule, borrowed from the Argentine comedian group Les Luthiers: he who thinks, loses.

It is the Reagan Battalion, a secret conservative organization, which has a blog, Twitter account, and Facebook site that destroyed Milo. The Reagan Battalion simply had to disclose two videos in which the alt-right star defends homosexual sex between adults and a 13-year-old boy. And defend it he did, very much in his style, speaking from experience. That was the end of Milo. For now. Because the movement that he militates, the alt-right, is on the rise, and is devouring traditional U.S. conservatism. The fallen angel still has a splendid future.