OXON HILL, MD.—One of the first speeches at a major conference for U.S. conservatives challenged the media to stop referring to the “alt-right,” a white nationalist movement that strongly backed Donald Trump for president, as conservative -- and not long after, a leader of the movement was kicked out of the venue.

“There is a sinister organization that is trying to warp its way into our ranks,” said Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, which runs the Conservative Political Action Conference. “We must not be deceived by (a) hateful, left-wing fascist group.”

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Over a few confusing minutes, Schneider argued that the “alt-right,” a term coined then popularized by the National Policy Institute’s Richard Spencer, was philosophically left-wing because it departed from his definition of conservatism, in which “the individual” is sovereign.

“They hate the Constitution. They hate free markets. They hate pluralism,” Schneider said. “Fascists tend to want big government control.”

The argument wasn’t unique — in “Liberal Fascism,” the National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg drew a zigging line from the fascism of the 1930s to the welfare state liberalism of the Clinton/Obama era. But it made little impact in the conference’s main ballroom, and a few listeners walked out.

One of the walkouts came from Richard Spencer himself, who attracted such a large crowd of reporters that security staff asked him to move away from the entrance, which was rapidly being blocked. More and more cameras and recorders were shoved toward Spencer as he reminded reporters that the self-appointed guardians of conservatism had trusted Trump long after the alt-right had.

“‘Donald Trump isn’t a conservative’ — that’s what they were saying a year ago,” said Spencer.

As the throng of reporters moved, Spencer was stopped by JP Sheehan, a CPAC attendee wearing a black-and-gold Make America Great Again baseball cap.

“Praise kek!” said Sheehan, posing for a selfie with Spencer and repeating a meme that had been adopted by the alt-right. “He’s the coolest guy.”

The growing crowd attracted more nervous attention from security, and after a few more minutes, they arrived to expel Spencer.

“I’m not welcome on the property?” Spencer asked.

“I’m not going to debate this,” said the guard. “This is private property. They want you off the property.”

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After Spencer asked if could stay if he would simply “stay out of trouble,” he said a hashtag — “Free Spencer” — into the cameras, and posed for another photo as he was taken outside.

Spencer, who became somewhat infamous after leading a cry of “hail Trump, hail victory, hail our people” at an NPI conference, was gone. But nationalist themes remained in the mix all day. When White House strategist Steve Bannon took the stage, he joked that Breitbart News, where he had been CEO, used to hold forums with controversial speakers, under the title “The Uninvited.”

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