From World of Warcraft to Right-Wing Influencer: The Rise of Asmongold – Daily Kos

You may not know Asmongold, but millions of people do. Born Zachariah “Zack” Hoyt in 1990, Asmongold is a Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and gaming commentator who built his enormous following playing and discussing World of Warcraft. In recent years, however, his influence has expanded well beyond gaming. Hoyt has increasingly become a prominent voice on political and social issues, particularly among young men and gamers, and has emerged as an influential figure in the online right. The far-right provocateur Nick Fuentes has embraced Asmongold as an ally. “Him and I are on the same team and he’s the GOAT,” Fuentes has said, describing Hoyt as a fellow traveler in the online right. Hoyt has also been unusually explicit about his intentions. In a report examining his comments about migrants in the United Kingdom, Media Matters for America wrote that “Hoyt has a clear agenda,” quoting him as saying: “I want to make one thing extremely clear. My goal with talking about this stuff is to radicalize people as much as possible. I show this and I portray this stuff in the most extreme and negative way so I can make people angry and they’ll be willing to follow the solutions that
Read More