Transcription
You want to move on to Jenk Huger absolutely crashing out over AOC?
>> Yeah, absolutely. So, it was the Axios article that started it all, right? Is that is that what kind of led to the the beef unraveling?
>> Yeah, I can throw that up right now. recent article about AOC and her 2028 ambitions, uh, some of the issues she, you know, reportedly has behind the scenes with left-wing media and a couple quotes in specific that really caused Jen to just totally crash out for hilarious reason. This is an important aspect of this. We've talked about it a little bit, but we were in Peru while some of this was popping off. So, I think it's important to reiterate this for this for the main reason, which is that, you know, one thing that happened while we were gone was Anakasparian was out here taking credit for AOC and her new promise not to vote for any funding to Israel, whether it be, you know, defensive funding, Iron Dome, whatever. Anna was taking credit for that.
Um, but in reality, I think the real reason that AOC did that was, as it says here, to repair her relationship with the DSA. Many members of the group opposed her support for giving Israel defensive weapons, including the Iron Dome missile system, which she has called a genocide. During the war in Gaza, which she has called a genocide, in 2024, national DSA leaders withdrew their endorsement of her for the elections that year, arguing that she'd conflated anti-ionism with anti-semitism and condemned boycotting Zionist institutions, which the group considered a deep betrayal. And again, this is something that not enough people talked about, but I remember when this happened. I remember talking about it and some people in the chat were like, "What?" Like the DSA withdrew their endorsement of AOC. That is something that did happen in 2024, which is why in order to get it back, as it says here in a virtual DSA forum last month with New York City members, AOC, who is also considering a US Senate bid, changed her position on Israel by committing to vote against any US funding to that nation, including for defensive weapons. During the forum, she said her record on Israel has been distorted, yada yada yada.
Um and then as a result um you know the DSA overwhelmingly voted to endorse her for reelection. So again the reason why she had to put out that statement on Israel was not to was not to like appease Anakasparian which was a completely narcissistic hilarious notion that was being regurgitated on the Young Turks that like somehow they were the reason why AOC had to buckle. No, it was to get back the endorsement of the DSA. And as it says, they overwhelmingly voted to endorse her, which tells me, Zach, that yeah, you know, there's a lot of kind of online chatter and and sometimes backlash against AOC. But I do think that this DSA vote is proof that when it comes to actual lefties on the ground in the base, she still has their support. She's still their gal. You know what I'm saying? Like they're they're going to support her. She is the candidate of the DSA left. And I think this vote proves it because again, they overwhelmingly voted to endorse her for reelection despite some of this online backlash and some of this chatter that you hear. Some of which is totally legitimate by the way. Like I was a huge critic of AOC's decision to vote for the Iron Dome funding. Um I think that was absolute [ __ ] Um, but you know, I do think it's true that the facts matter and the reality is she was overwhelmingly uh endorsed by DSA members who are actual people, not just, you know, accounts online.
>> Totally. And withholding your vote, holding a line, it makes the difference, right? What did the DSA do? What they did was something that we should all learn from, right? Did they cast a politician off forever? Did they say, "You disappointed me once. I can't work with you. You're scum. You're a sellout. I hate you. I'll never support anything that you do. I'll dedicate my life to undoing any political success you might have otherwise had. Of course not. But another thing that people have to remember was that it got raw and real as [ __ ] in New York and in California and in places where the demonstrations got hot and heavy, right? There are other places I'm sure that it got really bad, but those places in particular, I saw footage where it was really, really, you know, hardcore, right? and the students were getting their asses [ __ ] beaten by the police and they were holding the line and people were pissed off by the fact that AOC tried to fence it on that and that she didn't stand with Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar Gavin and I were pissed off about that. Right? We were probably best represented over the course of this last 18 months as the average DSA voter in New York. Right? Obviously, we're an anomaly here in Kansas City, but if you think about these people who have done tremendous work, uh they're responsible in no small part for the success of Zoran Mumdani's campaign. All of the number of socialists that were sent to Albany in 2020 and in 2021 and 2022, Gavin and I covered that way back in the day. There's been so much success that's been brought forward by the New York City DSA. And I think this is an example of another tremendous success. I think this should be touted by the left as how we effectively accomplish something and so that we can continue to learn by this because I completely agree with your point Gavin and I think that shows that she's receptive to push back and I think it shows that the DSA is willing to negotiate. We're willing to do politics. I actually feel really good about how all that went down.
>> I do too. Yeah. I think it's I'm I'm proud of the DSA for actually effectively enforcing some level of accountability, right? uh which is something that people in the past had criticized them for not being able to effectively enforce. Um so I think that this is a clear W not only for the DSA but also it proves that as you said AOC is actually receptive to her base specifically the New York City DSA which did help to get her elected. Speaking of helping to get her elected, let's take another look at a quote from the same article, Zach, that is what really set off Jenker. And this is hilarious um because it has to do with Justice Democrats who uh obviously Jen Uger was a co-founder of and then was forced out by after his old like blog posts were leaked or whatever. I'm sure some of you guys remember that. But as it says here, this is a quote from the article. As much as I love them, I did not win my election because of DSA or even Justice Democrats or any of these orgs. She told Ryan Graham for his book, The Squad, which as you guys might remember was published like what [ __ ] three years ago?
>> A while ago.
>> Like it was not published yesterday. Uh it's pretty crazy that um you know this it's kind of funny that this even this article even uh publishes that quote given how old it is, right? Because again it's from it's from Ryan Grim's book, The Squad, which is like not a new book. So it's hilarious. It's being presented as like some [ __ ] new quote or something. Um, but Jen Uger absolutely took the bait and posted this massive [ __ ] screed, totally crashing out over this innocuous comment. Um, and he says, "I can't believe AOC said Justice Dims didn't deserve credit for her victory. The ego has landed." Which is pretty hilarious, pretty hypocritical for Jen Huger to accuse anyone else of being egotistical. But either way, she definitely wouldn't have won without Shoy Cut and Corbin Trend. Also, the Young Turks did 34 videos on her and got her over a million views and our audience raised $2.5 million for Justice Democrats overall. So, first of all, this totally confirms what I've been saying for a while, which is that both Jen and Anna have now gone full Jimmy Door. Full Jimmy door. They're taking credit for the victory of AOC. They're taking credit for her election, right? They're acting like, "Oh, if it weren't for us platforming you, you would be a nobody. You owe us some you owe us something. You know, you you need to come on our show more or whatever because we made you. You'd be nothing without us."
Um, and then of course he goes on to add that no one is looking for a trophy. She's been insecure about this from day one. No one is taking credit from you. You did a great job in the race. That's why Shyot went all in on you. And it's demon common decency to thank the people who helped you instead of weirdly attacking them or being bitter about their help. Who cares about any of our egos? And to my knowledge, no one on our side took an ounce of credit from AOC for the amazing race she ran. Uh, but thanking people in our audience who donated, volunteered, and voted against you is not a big ask. Thought you thought we never asked. Can you just let your weird grudge go? Weirdo grudge go. Is that even too much to ask? But forget anything related to TYT. We were a minor player. Shyot was an angel to you and was brilliant in your campaign. I just don't know if you believe in the concept of loyalty, loyalty or gratitude. If you can't be grateful to him, that definitely says something about you. I buried this for eight years so that I wouldn't hurt the movement. But saying you won that campaign on your own is a bridge too far. It's also delusional and needlessly egotistical. There is no movement of one. you build things together. And again, this is all over a innocuous random throwaway quote from three years ago, published in Ryan Grim's book that was randomly reprinted recently by Axios and what seems to low-key be a hit piece against AOC. I'm I'm a little bit conflicted on whether or not AOC leaked this information to Axios or if they published it to make her look bad because as you guys know, Axios constantly prints a bunch of [ __ ] Israeli propaganda. their total establishment rag for the most part.
Um, so I do think it's in their vested interest to hurt AOC and to make her look bad. Either way, that's kind of besides the point. Jake is totally crashing out here. Uh, making this all about himself and the Young Turks and the Young Turks audience and how, you know, she's not grateful and she has no loyalty and she has no gratitude and how she can't let go of this grudge when in reality AOC never talks about TYT. She never talks about Jen and Anna. For the first time in [ __ ] years, she mentioned Anna Kasparian when she clapped back on Twitter. But it's actually TYT who seems to be holding the grudge. As I'll show you guys in a second, it's TYT that's published video after video after video going after AOC in the last couple weeks as if again they are the new Jimmy Door. They're following Jimmy's playbook, which is to relentlessly attack AOC while constantly giving credit to people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Tucker Carlson.
Um, but still, what was your reaction to this insane screed, this bizarre, you know, crash out over again a three-year-old quote that was randomly republished by Axios?
>> Yeah, it was it kind of three-fold. One, unimaginable amount of projection here. No one is looking for a trophy, says a guy who's obviously clearly looking for a trophy, calling her ins insecure when he's obviously insecure for one. And the other thing is guys, okay, did Justice Democrats help on the margin get some excitement and attention for AOC? For sure. For sure. But it's not like Justice Democrats has been a powerhouse organization in the aftermath of that. I imagine what AOC was saying was, "Hey, I'm not going to give credit away to any other organization that endorsed me, right? I was able to get the job done because me and my team did X, Y, and Z, and that's why the other folks were able to get across the finish line." uh and and others weren't. It's not the fault of Justice Democrats. It's not the fault of anybody else, but like, hey, we did this on our own. I don't feel like that's selfish. I don't feel like that's egotistical. I think it's actually good politics for her to want to distance herself from Justice Democrats kind of at this point. They're not really that much of a political powerhouse. They may be considered a political liability, but also to your point, that quote is like three years old. Like, I don't think she would be spitting it out today.
Um, I also think a Axios I agree with your point that they have an agenda a little bit already against AOC. Another thing that I hold a grudge against Axios for is that they use AI in their reporting all the time. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. For sure. I know somebody locally that has a job working for Axios and they've uh they've confirmed that uh that Yeah. There's unfortunate like AI like working to make it like more seamless when you're drafting your reporting. So, all that kind of stuff. They're 100% corporist. They're 100% billionaire uh dick suckers over there at Axios.
Um, that I know for sure. So all of those things uh compound into this. But if you go down to the very bottom, the last thing I'll point out, the thing that stood out to me the most is even with this total crash out, even with this desperate plea for attention, nobody gave a [ __ ] It didn't really move the needle of the conversation at all. The Vanguard's talking about it because it's humiliating for Jenk and and we've been dissecting the, you know, circling of the drain of the Young Turks for a while. Uh, this is a great response right here. She's just not that into you guys. Move on. It's giving toxic ex-boyfriend. It's be like, I REMEMBER YOU BEFORE YOU HAD ALL THIS. AND IT'S LIKE, YEAH, DUDE, AND NOW I'VE MOVED ON and I don't care about you and you look like a weirdo freak every time that you crash out publicly about this. Talk to your therapist about this if it's driving you crazy, but put putting out a, you know, an I have to have a Twitter blue check mark length screed, a diet tribe about AOC and a three-year-old quote is lunacy.
>> Yeah, 100%. And and again, just to remind everyone of the quote that started the whole beef, it's such an innocuous throwaway line. She she literally says, "As much as I love them, I did not win my election because of DSA or even Justice Democrats or any of those orgs." It's it's she didn't say [ __ ] Justice Democrats. She didn't say I think Justice Democrats sucks. Like she literally is just saying no. It was because of the super hard work of my team and myself who if you guys remember she like [ __ ] broke her shoes knocking doors. Remember the iconic photo of her like destroyed pair of shoes because she walked so much knocking so many doors. Had such an insanely impressive ground game. And again, that's like I mean, I I don't know. Would I have advised her to say this in the first place and like and seem like you're taking away credit from DSA or uh Justice Dems or what? And not necessarily, but who cares? She was, you know, being honest in a in a in a moment, you know, where she was being interviewed by Ryan Grim for this book or at least what she viewed as honest. So, I'm just like, who gives a [ __ ] It's such a random thing to crash out about.
Um, and again, then as you said, Zach, so much projection. Can you just let your weirdo grudge go again? How many times has AOC brought up Jenk UR or Justice Democrats in the last 5 years? Seemingly only one time, which was that quote that Axios recycled from three years ago, right? And then the other day technically when she clapped back at Anakah Sparing. But TYT, they can't stop. They They're making video after video again exactly like their [ __ ] Jimmy Door. Now, is this the final nail in the coffin for AOC? I mean, this is literally a Jimmy Door video. AOC takes pot shots at left-wing media. And then these are a couple from like 10 months ago. But what AOC calls Anna untalented on X. She was right, by the way. Anna is untalented. AOC attacks Anna on X. AOC makes huge decision. Anna called out AOC and it worked. Like they're they're clearly the ones that hold a grudge, right? And again, to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing AOC at all. We've done it here a million times, specifically when she voted for the Iron Dome funding. We had almost nothing but negative coverage of that for like [ __ ] months. Don't get me wrong. But I do think it's a little bit weird, Zach, when all of your coverage of AOC is negative, but then all of your coverage of Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Green and Tucker Carlson is positive. And by the way, we can pull up their videos and see how many they've made about Tucker recently. All of them are positive. Like literally all of them. They have tons of [ __ ] Tucker Carlson propaganda on their channel over and over again. Again, same with Marjorie Taylor Green. Same with a bunch of different Republicans at this point, but they have nothing but eye for AOC. And they make segment after segment trashing AOC.
Um, which is, you know, pretty indicative of of of, you know, what they're gearing up for come 2028. And that's not to be a channel that supports AOC. It's to be a channel that supports Tucker Carlson. Uh, because clearly they like us think he's going to run.
>> Totally agree with that. And I'll just add on that a lot of people have wondered over the last 18 months, you guys are like a dog with a bone. You guys could talk about so much. Oh, you guys are bright guys. We get mails from really sincere people. They'll be like, you guys are really smart. And we say thank you. Why do you guys talk about TYT so much? Why do you guys just come on, just forget about him, right? And the reality is is that nobody else covers this beat, so we have to. And Gavin just laid out exactly what their game plan is, which is to run the Jimmy Door playbook. They're desperate. They don't have any morals. They're pissed off at their audience. They hate everybody in progressive media. They want to antagonize them because of their own perverse motives. And what are they going to do if we let them, guys? I swear to God, they're going to do it if we let they're going to try no matter what. Gavin and I aren't going to stand for it. Neither are you guys. But what they're going to try and do is they're going to try and do what Jimmy Door did, but they're going to have the accolade of being able to lie to people and say, "We're the biggest progressive channel on YouTube." And we know, insert the name of some ridiculous Republican, probably Tucker Carlson, is actually the most left-wing option. That's exactly what Jimmy Door used to say. That's exactly what all of these [ __ ] tanky [ __ ] started to say in the leadup to the election. They were like, "Oh, no. The real leftwing is actually on the right. The anti-war movement's on the right." Do you guys remember that? That's what TYT sees. They're always late to the party. That's what they see and they're trying to be ahead of the curve next time. So, they're going to sew their seeds. Why do you think for the last 12 months all they've done is strokes Tucker Carlson's [ __ ] MTG? Why have they only said flattering things about her and they've criticized AOC constantly? They've criticized every leftwinger constantly. If they mention anything positive about a leftwinger, it's in passing and it never gets its own clip. Right? Why? Because they're trying to fment an audience of people who are like, "Oh, the Democratic Party left me. I'm just a regular person, but they went too far away because there's always a low IQ audience for that. And that's what TYT wants. They only care about money now. And we have to make sure that we stand in the way of them grifting, debasing the actual leftwing, throwing mud on AOC disingenuously. And we can't let them basically pretend that the largest YouTube show that's progressive on the internet is in is like supporting Tucker Carlson. Can't happen
>> 100%. But it's going to happen. Assuming Tucker Carlson runs for president, the Young Turks will 100% become a channel that supports the Republican candidate Tucker Carlson. That's what they're going to do. I would, again, once again, I will eat my shoe if they don't end up supporting Tucker Carlson in the event he runs. Even if it's against AOC, they're not going to give a [ __ ] They're not going to give a [ __ ] Um, and again, uh, almost nothing but for AOC, nitpicking the ever living [ __ ] out of her record, which, yeah, you can nitpick it. Guess who else you can nitpick the record of? Marjgery Taylor Green, Thomas Massie. Jen was saying that Thomas Massie should [ __ ] be the president or the or you know run with Ro Conan. He was saying uh Connor Massie 2028. You're not going to you're not going to nitpick Thomas Massie because I I can guarantee you you're going to find a lot more if you vet him than your random weird nitpicking of AOC who Yeah. Again, there's like, you know, 10% of her record you can criticize. Fair. There's a lot more than 10% of Marjorie Taylor Green's record. there's a lot more than 10% of, you know, what Tucker Carlson has been saying that you could [ __ ] nitpick and criticize and fixate on.
Um, and and they're not DSA candidates who have now proven to be receptive to the DSA base and will actually, you know, courageously change a position and say, "Hey, no, I actually I hear the I hear the push back and I'm and I'm I I take it into consideration." That's actually something should be rewarded. But instead, they're continuing to nitpick. they're continuing to, you know, get attention by going after her and tearing her down. Um, when she's clearly one of the best, if not the best contenders for 2028. Let's be honest, outside of Roana, who's better on these issues? I mean, maybe Graham Platner if he decides to run after winning the Senate race in Maine, but as of now, if you look at the list of people that are going to run in 2028, outside of Roana, I really can't think of anyone that's like obviously better than AOC. And what is TYT doing? Tearing her down day after day while propping up Tucker Carlson instead, who again could likely be her opponent in a general election, say she actually, you know, got as far as winning the nomination.
>> Yeah. And you look at Marjorie Taylor Green as well. What was Marjorie Taylor Green doing in the aftermath of October 7th? Right. Because we have to go back and look at these people's records. That's what Jen's saying. Oh, don't forget about that time six years ago when AOC did this one thing I didn't like. All right. Well, let's go back four years ago. Let's go back three and a half years ago for Marjorie Taylor Green. What was she doing in the early months of 2024, Gavin? Oh, that's right. She was calling Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib anti-semmites for opposing Israel on the congressional floor. She led an effort to censure Rashida Talib for having the courage to be one of the most vocal opponents to what Israel was doing as the only Palestinian American in Congress, she said it, "I am demanded by my own conscience to come out here and oppose this while the Democrats are in power. While it is a president with my own party in power, I'm going to come out here and I'm going to say this and I don't care who disrespects me and I don't care who comes out and tries to throw mud on my name and smear me. I'm going to come out here and do this." And guess what? Jenk's favorite lady, Marjgerie Taylor Green, was leading the cancel culture charge. Was trying to get Rashida to leave ousted from Congress. the only Palestinian American in Congress, guys.
>> Yep. 100%. And speaking of Tucker, you sent me this this morning, Zach. This is the person who TYT is laundering the reputation of while they simultaneously tear down AOC on a daily [ __ ] basis on their so-called shitty progressive news show. Tucker Carlson to launch publishing imprint with books by Russell Br, a literal rapist Russell Bran and Milo Yiannopoulos. Wow, what a [ __ ] serious person. Let's make this guy the next president. Let's make this guy the next president. Jen and Anna be like, literally, what the [ __ ] This is disgraceful.
Um, and it's exactly what we've been telling you, which is that outside of like the it's like the inverse of AOC. AOC is like right about 90% of things and then there's like 10% that you can nitpick val and it's totally valid to criticize that 10%. With Tucker, it's the opposite. 10% of the time when he's talking about Israel, he's kind of on point. And then the other 90% of the time is this [ __ ] Him launching a [ __ ] you know, Christian publishing company with rapists and and freaks.
>> Like that's literally who Tucker Carlson is, right? 90% of the time. But let's ignore that and fixate on the 10% of the time where he's like, you know, uh, whipping Ted Cruz's ass or whatever, which again is glorious to watch, just like how it was glorious to watch Donald Trump whip Ted Cruz ass back in 2016, right? doesn't mean that Donald Trump somehow, you know, was worthy of leadership. Clearly, we also can see that now, right?
Um even though, yeah, it was satisfying at the time. Um either way, just just hilarious to see Jen Anna continue to crash out as if they're Jimmy Door circa 2019 or something. Just on a daily basis, they're just stealing his [ __ ] moves. It's hilarious. Now, with all that said, with all that said, um, as much as I think TYT was throwing a total [ __ ] fit, um, I do have to say, you know, if this article is true, I do think that it makes AOC look kind of bad. I do think that it kind of makes AOC look bad. And I hope that it is a hit piece.
Um, because if she's actually like, you know, behind the scenes venting about progressive media or I'm like, what? Like just just go on the shows. Just go on the [ __ ] shows like Roana does. Have conversations. Explain yourself. Explain your unpopular opinions, whatever they are, to the hosts in a way that makes you seem normal. Again, Roana can do it. And I genuinely don't understand why AOC won't. Uh, even Ilhan Omar, you know, she just made the round. She was on Pod Save America. She was on Hassan. It was great. I'm like, why? Why? Why? It is kind of weird that AOC seems to want to hide. So, it is kind of comma coded, right? where it's like she just her strategy seems to be to hide from interviews and from getting asked uncomfortable questions probably because she fears that she'll have another moment like at the Munich conference where she can't answer about Taiwan or something. I don't really know. But again, I I do think this is mostly a hit piece that was planted to make AOC look bad and to hurt her chances by Axios. But I do think it speaks to a grain of truth, which is that AOC does have a weird relationship with progressive media and that she seemingly does shy away from going on a show like Breaking Points or, you know, talking to even like Hassan at this point. Like I don't know when the last time she went on Hassan was. I don't know. You know what I'm saying?
>> I feel like if I were in charge of AOC's comms, I would be working to address that for sure. Whether or not this is a hit piece, I think that's a fair impression to have because her base is so online and you would think, okay, it's important to reach other people who are very online. I think it's twofold why she doesn't do that. I think all the things you identified are accurate, right? I think she is nervous. I think she has decided that, you know, oh my gosh, I don't want to have to fight on two fronts. Like I'm not saying this is legitimate criticism, but I'm saying from her point of view, I think she's like, "Oh, I'm worried about pissing off the liberals and I'm worried about pissing off the left flank. Here's what I can do. I can use my millions of Instagram followers that I already have and entirely control my messaging, which is something that she's really good at. She's really good at, you know, kind of controlling the messaging through her Instagram. But the reality is is she does need to uh brave up a little bit. She needs to understand like, hey, you're charismatic. People like you. You have a huge base of people who are going to support you even if you [ __ ] up. And that's why I think it would be important for her to go back and do a stream with Hassan again, right? Back when she was kind of flirting with that. I think it would be great for her to make an appearance on Breaking Points. I think it would be great for her to do something, you know, once a quarter on a show like Pod Save America or go on a show like the Majority Report, right? I think getting her hands in all those cookie jars semi-regularly, even if it is just the biggest shows in progressive media that she decides to go on people who have like a million plus subscribers. But it I think it would be super smart for her to decide, hey, I have to get some more public facing time where I look like a human being interacting with another human being instead of just talking into my phone.
>> Yeah. Look out the door. If you hear an ambulance, the vanguard will be there, sir. The vanguard will be there, sir. The vanguard will will be there, sir. The vanguard. The vanguard will be there. Be there. Be them.