A look inside the life of Nick Fuentes’ twin sister

By HARRIET ALEXANDER, US SENIOR FEATURES WRITER

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Nick Fuentes says he finds women 'difficult to be around.' Perhaps, the feeling is mutual? The 27-year-old white supremacist agitator - a self-proclaimed virgin until he marries - has described women as 'baby machines' who should play a 'subordinate' role to men, be denied the right to vote, and restricted to the home. 'Jews are running society, women need to shut the [expletive] up, blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part, and we would live in paradise - it's that simple,' he declared in one vile diatribe on his live online show.

Nick Fuentes says he finds women 'difficult to be around.' Perhaps, the feeling is mutual? The 27-year-old white supremacist agitator - a self-proclaimed virgin until he marries - has described women as 'baby machines' who should play a 'subordinate' role to men, be denied the right to vote, and restricted to the home. 'Jews are running society, women need to shut the [expletive] up, blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part, and we would live in paradise - it's that simple,' he declared in one vile diatribe on his live online show.

But there is one young woman in Fuentes's life who he references repeatedly, and without any apparent malice: his twin sister, Melissa. 'I have a very close relationship with my parents, my sister; we're a pretty tight family,' he told Piers Morgan this week. Melissa Fuentes hung up the phone when reached by the Daily Mail on Wednesday and asked for her feelings on her brother. Morgan asked Nick about his telling of how, when he and Melissa were children, their father would refuse to take them to Applebee's or Red Lobster because the food there 'is commonly known as black fare'. Nick grew angry at Morgan's suggestion that his father, Bill Fuentes, inspired his own racism.

But there is one young woman in Fuentes's life who he references repeatedly, and without any apparent malice: his twin sister, Melissa. 'I have a very close relationship with my parents, my sister; we're a pretty tight family,' he told Piers Morgan this week. Melissa Fuentes hung up the phone when reached by the Daily Mail on Wednesday and asked for her feelings on her brother. Morgan asked Nick about his telling of how, when he and Melissa were children, their father would refuse to take them to Applebee's or Red Lobster because the food there 'is commonly known as black fare'. Nick grew angry at Morgan's suggestion that his father, Bill Fuentes, inspired his own racism.

'My parents are not racists and have never been racist,' he said, noting that they were 'ethnics' - businessman Bill's parents were Mexican and Irish, while his homemaker mother Lauren is of Italian origin. Nick described them as fourth and third generation Americans, respectively. Nick did confess to being 'a product of my environment' - meaning the largely white enclave of La Grange Park, the Chicago suburb where he and Melissa grew up. Though, his sister seems to have taken a quite different tack. Like Nick, Melissa attended Lyons Township high school in their affluent home town of La Grange Park: both siblings were stars of the public speaking team, regularly placing in their tournaments.

'My parents are not racists and have never been racist,' he said, noting that they were 'ethnics' - businessman Bill's parents were Mexican and Irish, while his homemaker mother Lauren is of Italian origin. Nick described them as fourth and third generation Americans, respectively. Nick did confess to being 'a product of my environment' - meaning the largely white enclave of La Grange Park, the Chicago suburb where he and Melissa grew up. Though, his sister seems to have taken a quite different tack. Like Nick, Melissa attended Lyons Township high school in their affluent home town of La Grange Park: both siblings were stars of the public speaking team, regularly placing in their tournaments.

Melissa, specializing in 'informative speaking', was made team captain, while her brother - in an early sign of his razor sharp media brand - focused on 'extemporaneous speaking' contests. In her final year at high school Melissa was selected to represent Illinois at Girls Nation, a prestigious mock government training camp run annually by the American Legion Auxiliary. During the course of the week the teenagers were invited to tour the White House and were photographed alongside Barack Obama: She captioned the image, 'And then I was like, 'No, Mr. President, YOU rock!'' Nick, by that point, was unlikely to think that Obama 'rocked'.

Melissa, specializing in 'informative speaking', was made team captain, while her brother - in an early sign of his razor sharp media brand - focused on 'extemporaneous speaking' contests. In her final year at high school Melissa was selected to represent Illinois at Girls Nation, a prestigious mock government training camp run annually by the American Legion Auxiliary. During the course of the week the teenagers were invited to tour the White House and were photographed alongside Barack Obama: She captioned the image, 'And then I was like, 'No, Mr. President, YOU rock!'' Nick, by that point, was unlikely to think that Obama 'rocked'.

While in high school, he told Tucker Carlson in October, he listened to conservative radio host Mark Levin and had a Damascene Conversion. 'I'll never forget one show, he goes live and he says, 'America is becoming a majority nonwhite country. Does anybody think that's a good idea?'' recalled Nick, adding that it 'sowed the seed' for his beliefs. 'I was thinking to myself, yeah, that actually doesn't sound so good. I didn't really even think that America was becoming a majority-minority like that.' Levin, learning of the spark he lit, condemned Nick as 'little Adolf'. The twins graduated from Lyons in 2016 and went their separate ways: Nick travelled east to Boston University, while Melissa remained in Illinois to attend Bradley University in Peoria. After high school, Nick no longer featured in Melissa's social media posts.

While in high school, he told Tucker Carlson in October, he listened to conservative radio host Mark Levin and had a Damascene Conversion. 'I'll never forget one show, he goes live and he says, 'America is becoming a majority nonwhite country. Does anybody think that's a good idea?'' recalled Nick, adding that it 'sowed the seed' for his beliefs. 'I was thinking to myself, yeah, that actually doesn't sound so good. I didn't really even think that America was becoming a majority-minority like that.' Levin, learning of the spark he lit, condemned Nick as 'little Adolf'. The twins graduated from Lyons in 2016 and went their separate ways: Nick travelled east to Boston University, while Melissa remained in Illinois to attend Bradley University in Peoria. After high school, Nick no longer featured in Melissa's social media posts.

He has said his experience at university was life-changing. Nick described La Grange Park to Piers Morgan as a 'working class city; good, humble, down to earth people', and said moving to Boston was a shock. 'I left this bubble when I went to college, and read a lot of things online, and realized the country does not look like La Grange Park.' He lasted a little more than a year at university before dropping out, aged 18, and catapulted to fame following the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where neo-Nazis marched through the streets chanting 'Jews will not replace us'. Soon he was ranting online about the wonders of Hitler, and denying the history of the Holocaust . Melissa, meanwhile, was defending diversity. In September 2018, still a public speaking champion, Melissa was selected by the university to address 650 immigrants taking their oath of citizenship in a ceremony overseen by Senator Dick Durbin.

He has said his experience at university was life-changing. Nick described La Grange Park to Piers Morgan as a 'working class city; good, humble, down to earth people', and said moving to Boston was a shock. 'I left this bubble when I went to college, and read a lot of things online, and realized the country does not look like La Grange Park.' He lasted a little more than a year at university before dropping out, aged 18, and catapulted to fame following the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where neo-Nazis marched through the streets chanting 'Jews will not replace us'. Soon he was ranting online about the wonders of Hitler, and denying the history of the Holocaust . Melissa, meanwhile, was defending diversity. In September 2018, still a public speaking champion, Melissa was selected by the university to address 650 immigrants taking their oath of citizenship in a ceremony overseen by Senator Dick Durbin.

A junior political science major at the time, she 'reflected on how diversity affects her own life, at home and on the speech team and how it makes America a stronger place, breeding empathy from those of different cultures,' according to the student paper. As she concluded her passionate paean to multiculturalism, a video rolled with clips and quotes from Obama, George Washington, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan praising 'immigration and its impact on America'. She left Bradley in May 2020 with a degree in political science and Spanish, becoming the first in her family to obtain a university diploma. 'Graduating from college means a lot to me and my family, and if I've accomplished anything in my four years at Bradley, I hope it was making them proud,' she wrote on Facebook. Pictured: Melissa is shown in second row from bottom, second to left.

A junior political science major at the time, she 'reflected on how diversity affects her own life, at home and on the speech team and how it makes America a stronger place, breeding empathy from those of different cultures,' according to the student paper. As she concluded her passionate paean to multiculturalism, a video rolled with clips and quotes from Obama, George Washington, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan praising 'immigration and its impact on America'. She left Bradley in May 2020 with a degree in political science and Spanish, becoming the first in her family to obtain a university diploma. 'Graduating from college means a lot to me and my family, and if I've accomplished anything in my four years at Bradley, I hope it was making them proud,' she wrote on Facebook. Pictured: Melissa is shown in second row from bottom, second to left. 

'My parents have sacrificed so much throughout their lives to make sure I got here, and I'll never be able to thank them enough.' Moving back to the Chicago area, Melissa worked as a sales assistant at Warby Parker and a recruiter at international engineering firm Actalent, before joining her father Bill in July 2023 as an account manager at the factory where he works. Within two years she had bought her own two-bed, two-bath $300,000 home in the area, with a wooden deck overlooking the park. Photos shared on social media show her sipping coffee on her deck, and relishing the life of a 20-something: espresso martinis, Paul McCartney and Ed Sheeran concerts, ice cream treats.

'My parents have sacrificed so much throughout their lives to make sure I got here, and I'll never be able to thank them enough.' Moving back to the Chicago area, Melissa worked as a sales assistant at Warby Parker and a recruiter at international engineering firm Actalent, before joining her father Bill in July 2023 as an account manager at the factory where he works. Within two years she had bought her own two-bed, two-bath $300,000 home in the area, with a wooden deck overlooking the park. Photos shared on social media show her sipping coffee on her deck, and relishing the life of a 20-something: espresso martinis, Paul McCartney and Ed Sheeran concerts, ice cream treats.

Her LinkedIn account is populated with glowing endorsements of her professionalism – with several post appearing to be from African Americans. When reached for comment, one of those endorsers, David Daye, assistant speech coach at Bradley University told Daily Mail, 'Melissa was one of my speech teammates in college and still a friend.' One TikTok shows her and a group of male friends prancing in drag to Taylor Swift's song 'Karma', mouthing the lyrics: 'Cause karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god, karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend, karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you, it's not?' Her twin brother's online person is, of course, darkly different.

Her LinkedIn account is populated with glowing endorsements of her professionalism – with several post appearing to be from African Americans. When reached for comment, one of those endorsers, David Daye, assistant speech coach at Bradley University told Daily Mail, 'Melissa was one of my speech teammates in college and still a friend.' One TikTok shows her and a group of male friends prancing in drag to Taylor Swift's song 'Karma', mouthing the lyrics: 'Cause karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god, karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend, karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you, it's not?' Her twin brother's online person is, of course, darkly different.

Around a year after Melissa's joyful TikTok, Donald Trump won re-election, and Nick celebrated online, mocking a pro-choice slogan and writing on X: 'Your body, my choice.' His provocations have only increased with his fame. Earlier this month on X he asked: 'Why wasn't I nominated for antisemite of the year?' He wrote this week: 'We are done with White Guilt. I don't care if you call me a racist and I don't care if you put another smug old Jew in front of me wagging his finger about the Holocaust crying about his grandma. 'Our Civilization and everything we love about it is being raped and killed. WAKE UP.' For twins to have seemingly turned out so differently, one must lead one to question if Nick Fuentes is truly a 'product of his environment' - or something else entirely.

Around a year after Melissa's joyful TikTok, Donald Trump won re-election, and Nick celebrated online, mocking a pro-choice slogan and writing on X: 'Your body, my choice.' His provocations have only increased with his fame. Earlier this month on X he asked: 'Why wasn't I nominated for antisemite of the year?' He wrote this week: 'We are done with White Guilt. I don't care if you call me a racist and I don't care if you put another smug old Jew in front of me wagging his finger about the Holocaust crying about his grandma. 'Our Civilization and everything we love about it is being raped and killed. WAKE UP.' For twins to have seemingly turned out so differently, one must lead one to question if Nick Fuentes is truly a 'product of his environment' - or something else entirely.