From RationalWiki

[1] This is probably a bust of [2] the grandson of the real Sargon of Akkad. Formerly Benjamin's favorite YouTube background image.This is probably a bust of Naram-Sin of Akkad the grandson of the real Sargon of Akkad.

hyper-rational genuinely smug smirk on Planet Earth. Twitter profile: The mostgenuinely smug smirk on Planet Earth.

Not to be confused with the infinitely more noteworthy and hirsute emperor of the Akkadian Empire

“ ” There are a lot of people with very bad and ill-informed opinions. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'm one of them. —Carl Benjamin, who spent 4 hours and 50 minutes explaining these "very bad" opinions[3]

“ ” I’ve said, over and over, that [ sic ] , and [ sic ] can be great entry points I’ve said, over and over, that Milo , Sargon, Lauren Souther , and Gavin types peoplecan be great entry points —Richard Spencer, white supremacist leader[4]

Carl Benjamin (1979–), better known as Sargon of Akkad, Carl I of Swindon or The Thinkery, is a YouTube talker, failed UKIP candidate for the South West England constituency of the European Parliament, right-wing reactionary and trend setter in the exciting new scene of dairy based fashion. Although Benjamin claims the mantle of "skeptic", his commentary often features theories of a rather more conspiratorial nature (in particular, concerning Cultural Marxism),[5] and potentially disingenuous sourcing: often overlooking critical passages, long words and graphs which might cause head scratching. [6] calling for "social justice" courses to be temporarily suspended, complaining about the length of thorough rebuttals and criticism of his videos,[7] and crying when Twitter suspended his account because he tweeted porn at his critics.[8] In practice, Benjamin spends his time attacking "the left" (read: anyone from the Democrats to Chavez[9]), screaming profanities at college juniors, ridiculing "the media" (read: literally any news with adjectives[10]), complaining about Identity politics (especially people he labels SJWs), and defending right-wing and fascist politicians (including Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Jair Bolsonaro). We have documented his most egregious stupidity below.

Benjamin's method of "response video" inserts his own mocking commentary at frequent intervals into an opponent's video. As a result, Benjamin tends to quotemine his subjects, presenting a fractured and tormented view of their positions. When he gives his final rebuttal at the end, his opponent has already been established as untrustworthy. In contrast, Benjamin is much, much less effective in live debate.[11] Yet, performs well in other debates such as the one in which he causes Thomas Smith to walk out before the end. [12]

Benjamin's political views are actually somewhat confusing, making it difficult to identify his position on the horseshoe. He loves to consider himself a liberalist "classical liberal"[13][14] opposed to identity politics, however his constant pandering to far-rightists and his belief in far-right conspiracy theories makes him very much an entry point for alt-right radicalization.

As of May 2019, Benjamin's main channel had over 956,000 subscribers and over 284 million views.[15] In December 2018, Benjamin was banned from Patreon, cutting off much of his income.[16] This was after beefing with white supremacists and making the mistake of trying to use their language (slurs) against them (calling them "white niggers", calling them "faggots", accusing them of acting like "niggers").[17] How he intended it doesn't matter, however, as it violated Patreon's hate speech policy.

Conspiracy theories

“ ” I like a good conspiracy theory, but I like them because I don't believe them. —Carl Benjamin, avid tinfoil hat collector[18]

Although Benjamin claims not to be a conspiracy theorist, he's entertained a number of aluminum foil-clad hypotheses over the years.

Former 9/11 Truther

See the main article on this topic: 9-11 truth

On a livestream in May 2014, Benjamin parroted 9/11 truther talking points about Mossad:[19]

Benjamin: And it drives me crazy, because – I mean, I really like, one of my favorite things is conspiracy documentaries on YouTube. I think they're fucking brilliant. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am absolutely persuaded that the world is about to fucking end in a firestorm of death caused by the lizard-man Obama, not really, I'm just, you know-- Goodfella: He's a lizard. [laughs] Benjamin: Exactly. Funny, it's like the most, it's the most exciting science fiction I've ever heard. You know. I mean, I think that some of them have probably got some, you know, there's probably a lot to some of them. Like, I don't know, maybe 9/11 or something, I dunno. It doesn't look like terrorists could have done that. Goodfella: Well, there was, although there was, the bombers that were found through part of Mossad, were there not, on the bridge? Benjamin: Mh-hmm! Goodfella: And they had that, ah – Benjamin: Yeah, they were peering and whatnot – Goodfella: And they had that van full of explosives, or something, and something like that – Benjamin: Yeah, yeah, and – Goodfella: I don't know the details. Benjamin: No, I heard about that, you know, they're filming it and cheering and stuff, and then they're these, yeah, Mossad guys, and it's just like, right ok, that's weird, you know, I mean.

In a June 2014 video titled "What I Saw", Benjamin (during a monologue in which he described seeing a UFO) reported that one of his friends was blue-pilled with regards to 9-11:[20]

And as I was watching it move, it was, again, going quite fast, I pointed it out to a few of my friends, and one of them is a complete skeptic, he thinks that the 9/11 attacks were caused by planes, that the buildings fell down because planes, collided with their top stories and that caused the structural collapse of these two giant skyscrapers that were designed to withstand plane impacts. So he's very much blue-pilled in that regard.

Benjamin doubled down in the comments section. In a particularly lovely thread, Sargon argued that "2 planes can't bring down 3 buildings":

FerouxCirous: For fucks sake, Sargon. UFO's and 9/11 conspiracies? I expected this shit from sandman but not you. Apply that healthy scepticism to everything, mate.﻿ Benjamin: I am. I didn't say I knew what the UFO was, I just told you what I saw. I have no idea what it is. Someone has suggested two satellites passing and I'm happy with that explanation. And terrorists did not bring down 3 buildings with 2 fucking planes man. I don't know who did, but it wasn't some Arabs with boxcutters man.﻿ FerouxCirous: Al right. I understand/respect your UFO stance. The thing that irks me the most is the 9/11 stuff. So to move it along I'll ask you; why couldn't it have been Moroccans/Arabs? Does it feel counter intuitive that a small group of people using the right tools can have a large effect on the world?﻿ Benjamin: I don't think that 2 planes can bring down 3 buildings. I doubt that 2 planes can even bring down 2 buildings. FerouxCirous: I don't see why not. These buildings were not designed to withstand these kinds of impacts, debris fall and sustained high temperatures. This stuff being impossible has been debunked for a while now.﻿ Benjamin: Well, that's directly in contradiction to what the designers of those buildings said, they were in fact specifically designed to take impacts: WTC Designed to Withstand Airliner Jet Impacts!﻿

Summarizing the discussion, Benjamin stated:

This has been a very interesting discussion. I mentioned 9/11 to give you all an example of my friend's worldview, and I certainly wasnt saying I saw anything otherworldly, i simply couldnt explain what i had seen. Im satisfied now with the two satellites crossing positions at the point of shadow from the earth. I dont want to discuss only feminism on my channel because, frankly, it can get depressing. I would like to talk more about strange things, so perhaps I should put a title before the video name so anyone not interested in the video won't feel that I've wasted their time.﻿

In a July 2015 livestream with Kyle Kulinski, Benjamin said [22]

Kulinski: Dude, some [conspiracy theory videos] are really creative. Like, I enjoyed watching the 9-11 ones because I would watch them and go, "This is like really creative", like, a lot of time went into this. Benjamin: But, yeah, like, I agree, I don't think they have the sort of skill really, but maybe they did, but, um – Kulinski: Yeah, no, no, no, on that one, I'm pretty strongly in the "it's not a conspiracy" camp, but I will concede that I don't know what the fuck happened to Building 7. Benjamin: Well that's the thing, isn't it, I actually think that it probably was a conspiracy, you know, but I don't think it was, I mean, you've got these ones where it's "I don't think there was a plane or it's holographic" and stuff, and it's like, yeah, no, people saw the plane, what are you talking about, what? Kulinski: Yeah. Benjamin: But, um, but that's the thing, they've ruined, the thing, because you can't then talk about things that are legitimate conspiracies, that are like, real, actual things that have actually happened.

Benjamin's 9/11 views flew under the radar until other YouTubers called him out on it in May 2017.[23][24] Afterwards, in a June 2017 video, Benjamin claims he was "deconverted" after he watched a viral December 2015 video titled "For the undying 9/11 MORONIC JET FUEL ARGUMENT" which debunked the common 9/11 truther talking point that "jet fuel can't melt steel beams":[25] This is unexpected, as Benjamin was a 9-11 truther for years and (allegedly) all it took was a 2-minute video for his beliefs to fall apart.[26]

Since I'm on the subject, I'll address the truther thing. I didn't actually post that I belived anything about 9-11. I posted that I wasn't convinced that a building that wasn't hit by a plane would just collapse in on itself, even with a fire. However, that was actually something that was refuted not long afterwards by a subscriber of mine, when he sent me this video. This is a chap who's literally showing you how it's done. [video plays] As you can see, that was pretty convincing. [laughs] So, that was me, deconverted from practically all of it, actually. I've spent, I have actually spent time looking into some conspiracy theories, and most of them are complete horseshit.

Heather Heyer heart attack at Charlottesvile

In a livestream with alt-righter Colin Robertson, Benjamin cycled through the alt-right conspiracy theory[27] that Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer died because of a heart attack, and not because she was struck by a vehicle driven by an alt-righter:

Benjamin: Just to jump in on the car thing. As I understand it, I thought Heather Hays [sic] or Heyer, or whatever her name was, I thought she died of a heart attack. Robertson: Yes. It looks like what happened is that she was shocked by seeing the car crash happening... Benjamin: Yeah. Robertson: ...and had a heart attack. Benjamin: [laughs] I don't mean to laugh. Robertson: It's a really sort of-- I know, I know. It's horrible, but it does seem a very dramatic reaction to a car crash. Benjamin: It's more that the alt-right are being blamed for someone having a heart attack. Someone in tremendously bad physical condition has a heart attack and suddenly the alt-right has murdered someone. This is something I'm surprised the alt-right doesn't make a big deal out of, to be honest.[28]

When pressed on the claim by Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch, Benjamin did ten seconds worth of Googling, proved himself wrong, and then did some whataboutism:[29]

[reading the Holt article] Including perpetuating alt-right propaganda that Heather Heyer was not killed by a car attack at the Unite the Right, but instead suffered a heart attack due to poor health. [speaking] Okay, well, if that's wrong, I'm happy to correct it. Let me just pause what I'm doing and do some Googling. [cut] So I found this article on Newsweek: [reading the Newsweek article] Charlottesville: Heather Heyer's cause of death has been revealed in a medical report. [speaking] Okay. [reading] The anti-racism activist was killed at the white nationalist protest as a result of blunt force injury to the chest according to a medical report [speaking] that doesn't appear to be linked here. But, I will take them at their word. Okay. The alt-right had lied [mocks gasp of shock] My goodness! I can't believe it! Both the far-left and the alt-right are both a pack of liars! Imagine my shock. [....] [reading the Holt article] An early part of the discussion included Benjamin echoing white nationalist propaganda surrounding the murder of Heyer, a liberal counterprotester at the Unite The Right rally. [speaking] Okay, so that's false, so I'm dealing with lies on both sides. But unlike you, Jared, I will make the correction, as I have just done here. You won't. You'll do nothing. You'll carry on lying. Because you're a giant fucking liar.

If Benjamin had done any research, he wouldn't have to retreat to "lies on both sides" so often.

Other conspiracy theory views

World-spanning conspiracy theories:

Benjamin believes in the Agenda 21 variation of the New World Order conspiracy theory. In a YouTube comment on "Agenda 21 For Dummies", Benjamin stated:[30]

They are attempting to breed compliant people. We're going to walk right into the most terrifying dictatorship conceivable.

American conspiracy theories:

Benjamin buys Trump's (absurd [34] ) claims about voter fraud in the 2016 election. [35] [36]

) claims about voter fraud in the 2016 election. Benjamin does not believe that Pizzagate is real. [37] However, he spends a very long time talking about why child sex rings are common and "the left" should take them seriously. [38] This view is disingenuous -- the question is one of a very specific child sex ring, not of sex rings in general -- and enables Pizzagaters.

believe that Pizzagate is real. However, he spends a very long time talking about why child sex rings are common and "the left" should take them seriously. This view is disingenuous -- the question is one of a very child sex ring, not of sex rings in general -- and enables Pizzagaters. Benjamin peddled the (bullshit[39]) conspiracy theory that DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered because he was involved in the 2016 DNC email leaks to WikiLeaks.[40][41][42] In particularly poor taste, he spread a tweet by Paul Joseph Watson.[43]

British political conspiracy theories:

Benjamin debated Thunderf00t on Brexit, referencing a number of conspiracy theories throughout.[44]

Syrian Civil War conspiracy theories:

Miscellaneous:

Anti-feminism

“ ” I don't agree that women face disadvantages. —Carl Benjamin[59]

Benjamin is perhaps most well-known for his "Why Do People Hate #Feminism" series.[60] His channel is filled with videos of the type, "Feminism vs FACTS"[61] or "Feminist gets TRIGGERED".[62][63][64][65][66] He believes that "reality has an anti-feminist bias".[67] In short: If you've listened to other anti-feminist YouTubers, you've already listened to Sargon.

Elliot Rodger

“ ” IT IS A FUCKING FEMINIST SYSTEM! —Carl Benjamin, matriarchy victim[68]

Benjamin, discussing Elliot Rodger's murderous rampage, has the following to say:[68]

Before your stupid social justice feminine [sic] bullshit, [mass murders] didn't happen on this scale, it's CRAZY. This is a disease of the modern age. YOU are responsible for perpetuating it, by disenfranchising these poor fucking guys who don't have any options left. When someone takes the option of absolute INSANELY last resort, you have to wonder, what kind of system is producing them? And I'll tell you what, Laci, it is a FUCKING FEMINIST SYSTEM THAT IS DOING THIS.

"I wouldn't even rape you"

More recently, a British MP argued that internet freedom of speech requires that harassment of women become "unacceptable". In particular, she mentioned rape threats.[69] Benjamin felt obliged to tweet this insightful response:[70]

I wouldn't even rape you, @jessphillips. #AntiRapeThreats #FeminismIsCancer

Since then, Benjamin has not apologised and continues to defend this exchange, which at one point notoriously garnered him applause from the audience during a live interview at MythCon 2017.[71]

In May 2019, Benjamin appeared to double down on the remark as part of a joke in one of his videos, stating:

There's been an awful lot of talk about whether I would or wouldn't rape [her]. I've been in a lot of trouble for my hardline stance of not even raping her. I suppose with enough pressure I might cave. But let's be honest, nobody's got that much beer.[72]

This has subsequently led to West Midlands Police opening up an investigation against Benjamin.[73]

#MeToo and "gold-digging whores"

During the #MeToo campaign encouraging women (and to a lesser extent men) to share their stories of sexual abuse following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Benjamin stated that "I don't agree with publicizing these things" – despite intentionally publicizing this event in a negative light and publicizing known falsehoods, such as Pizzagate (see below). He had another crack at Jess Phillips by suggesting #IWouldntEven as a hashtag to mock the campaign.[74] Regarding the women who accused Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment, Benjamin blamed the victims and offered these overtly misogynistic responses:

I think there were gold-digging whores who would accept fucking Harvey Weinstein for cash and then we're hearing from the few that either didn't or did and regret it.[75]

Wow, apparently a top Amazon executive ignored her when she told him about the assault and dropped her script for a TV series after she spoke out. I mean, I do think that there was literally a conspiracy of silence to punish people but you can't just sit there and go "I was afraid I wouldn't get very far in the movie business if I wasn't a sleazy, corrupt whore."[76]

After being called out by one of the guests on his stream, Benjamin gave a weak excuse for his remarks:

Guest: You are calling allegedly raped victims "whores".

Benjamin: No, most of these are women who just were pestered by Harvey apparently.[77]

Benjamin apparently thinks it's fine to call women "whores" as long as they were "just pestered" for sex. He also seemed to have forgotten that earlier, in the same livestream, he agreed with another one of his guests that "pestering" is a soft word for what Weinstein did.[78]

Women in politics

Benjamin seems to think that there is a "demonstrable" causal link between the point when women entered politics and the decline of society.

Benjamin: Men were the ones who were generally involved in politics. Now women are also involved in politics and - frankly - society is declining. You know, the actual sort of health of the society…

Destiny: The idea that society is declining because women are in politics now just seems to be a really ridiculous assertion to me.

Benjamin: It's demonstrable.[79]

Anti-identity-politics

“ ” The idea that American civilisation somehow excludes black people is ridiculous. The idea that American civilisation somehow excludes black people is ridiculous. They have been there from virtually day one. —Carl Benjamin,[80] Either saying that African slaves weren't excluded from civilisation in any meaningful way, or making-up the claim - "There were no African people in the US at some point since its inception" - and setting it on fire.

Carl Benjamin: unbiased non-racist non-ideologue

Benjamin's favorite whipping boy is the so-called "progressive left," which he considers to be a "cancer" on the left wing.[83] He defines "progressives" as leftists that dabble in authoritarian collectivism, claim racism and sexism where there is none, and suppress dissent through "censorship".[84] Extending this, Benjamin puts "SJWs" and "modern feminists" squarely under this "progressive left" umbrella. Of late, he has taken to describing liberals as "Neo-Progressive",[85] a definition which was taken straight from the Heritage Foundation.[86] At length, Benjamin explains his view on the "SJW" mindset:[87][88]

I am, of course, not any kind of bigot or racist or sexist or anything like this. I am in fact a hardcore egalitarian, and that's the problem, a hardcore egalitarian will also say "Well, you can't you know, it's not acceptable to go around being racist towards white people or sexist to men, or prejudiced against straight people and whatnot", but that's the thing, and that's their entire platform. The idea of people who are part of a majority group should be in some way fundamentally be ashamed of being in that majority group, I don't agree with. [....] These people view the culture war as a Risk map. They're looking at Google, that's their territory. We know that's not our territory, Google hangouts, the Google technology thing that Sarkeesian and co[mpany] went to, that's not our territory, but YouTube is our territory, and we do need to defend this with vigor. They won't get a hold on this, to be honest, but we have to be consistent. The mainstream media is their territory, but Breitbart could be considered to be "our territory". "Our" being anyone simply opposed to social justice because that is simply what their platform is. It's you're either with social justice or you're against it, and anyone who's against it is slapped with a bunch of labels and that's it.

In general, Benjamin views his opponents as promoters of reverse discrimination:

“ ” I will never think it right to judge someone based on the colour of their skin instead of the content of their character. This is the reason I am not part of the extreme progressive left, just like I will not be part of the extreme fascist right.[89] I will never think it right to judge someone based on the colour of their skin instead of the content of their character. This is the reason I am not part of the extreme progressive left, just like I will not be part of the extreme fascist right.

Benjamin does support some genuinely liberal / leftist positions. He is pro-gay marriage,[90] supports legalising marijuana (and decriminalising drug use),[91][92] opposes the death penalty,[93] is pro-choice[94] and he doesn't like Fox News.[95][note 3] He also made two videos eviscerating the British Conservative Party shortly after the 2015 United Kingdom general election.[96][97]

Petition: "Suspend Social Justice Courses from UNIVERSITIES"

In 2016, Benjamin created a petition to "Suspend Social Justice Courses" from "UNIVERSITIES [sic] ". He claims that: [98]

Social justice has become scientifically illiterate, logically unsound, deeply bigoted and openly supremacist. Social justice professors are indoctrinating young people into a pseudoscientific cult behind closed doors that is doing damage to their health, education and future. Social justice has become a victim of its own good intentions and in the desperate attempt to make the world better for some it is creating a world better for none. It has become another ideology fit only to pave the road to Hell, so it is time to turn around and choose another path that is concerned with reason, science and improving the lives of every human. To clarify, we are calling for the teaching of social justice courses in universities to be temporarily suspended. What follows is up for debate, but as it stands now, social justice is causing far more harm than good and it must be halted and reassessed.

The letter contained in the petition:

Suspend social justice courses.

Sargon can't be bothered to specify which courses he's talking about, so even if there is a valid point in there, the petition is not useful.

And in the relevant video, Benjamin claims:[99]

Colleges and universities are literally teaching teenagers that every white person is racist. This poison is coming from academia and it is to the detriment of not only wider society, but the students who are brainwashed to believe this cult. It needs to be stopped.

And when the courses are banned, then what follows is up for debate. He also suggested to read the comments as an alternative to see what he's talking about. The comments, unsurprisingly, do not deliver and are mainly rants about the social justice boogeyman, sometimes contradicting each other (such as comments saying social justice courses telling everyone is racist while others saying that social justice courses are racist by being anti-white).

This is certainly a shift from saying that "Free Speech is the Answer to Political Correctness",[100]. Perhaps Benjamin and the Islamic Republic of Iran should have a chat: the latter has moved to ban social sciences and was especially worried about shutting down women's studies and human rights courses.[101] Finally, Iran is free of the SJW scourge.

"Why Don't I Criticize the Right"

Benjamin virtually never attacks the right. In "Why Don't I Criticise the Right",[9] Benjamin asserts that this is because he wants to "improve" the left but doesn't want to "improve" the right. At length, he glosses over the problems of the right. For example, he complains that leftism sometimes produces communists who "undermine Western Civilization":

You don't see how cancerous the left is. The right is not good to poor people, but I don't think they're trying to actively undermine Western civilization. I don't think that they're gonna start pumping out an ideology that advocates for open borders, for communism, socialism, and all this crap that's infested the left. I think at worst, they will be mildly oppressive to poor people.

Yet Benjamin conveniently forgets that rightism regularly produces theocrats, white nationalists, and the like. Indeed, he explicitly minimises rights violations from the right in response to what he perceives to be the minimisation of rights violations from the left, those of foetuses, which he ostensibly values to a similar degree to children, however false the equivalence:

They call for all of this Cultural Marxist stuff. All this intersectional stuff that is designed to tear apart the Western liberal tradition is coming from the left. It has to stop, because that is the thing I think needs protecting -- more than abortion rights! Okay, you can't get an abortion, that sucks, it sucks for you, what are you gonna have to do, oh I'm gonna have to raise my child, well there we go, millions do it, it's not the end of your life, for fuck's sake. You act like oh abortion rights are the most important -- well no, they're the least important thing in the fucking world. Every other right is more important than your right to get an abortion.

Benjamin thinks that abortion isn't that important, because how difficult is raising a child, really?

Incoherent ideology

“ ” I'm quite a socialist in some ways. I like the idea of socialised healthcare and welfare. —Carl Benjamin, "classical liberal"[102]

In January 2019, Benjamin took a political compass test where he was placed in the centre-right, libertarian category.[103][note 4] When Benjamin took the same test in 2015, he was placed in the centre-left, libertarian category.[104][note 5] Benjamin commonly refers to himself as a "classical liberal",[13][14] yet Benjamin once told Kyle Kulinski that "a system that produces billionaires is a bad system";[105] a strikingly socialist (and decidedly not "classical liberal") thing to say. Similarly, Benjamin's defense of workers' rights and talk of class warfare[106][107] are more along the lines of Marxism, not "classical liberalism", but since such concepts, as subsets, aren't exclusive to their superset of Marxism, ideological coherence evidently stands. In June 2017, Benjamin clarified that he would be more accurately classified as a "social liberal" than a "classical liberal."[108]

Despite self-identifying as left-leaning,[14] Benjamin has been commonly referred to as right-wing.[109][110][111] This is largely due to his anti-progressive views and recent endorsements and support of right-wing political candidates such as Donald Trump,[112][113] Marine Le Pen,[114] and Theresa May.[note 6] Since he does not believe he shares the political views of these candidates, he justifies his support for them with fear-mongering, mental gymnastics, and by massively overstating the flaws of their opponents.[note 7][114][note 8]

Compare his February 2015 views on poverty:[115]

The only people who are actually oppressed by capitalism are people who either can't work, people who've lost a leg or are morbidly obese or something like that, or people who don't want to work because they're fucking lazy, or people who don't have any other skills because they did gender studies degrees. Believe it or not, everyone else actually does pretty well out of capitalism, y'know, something like a house, a car, holidays, food on the table, entertainment, luxuries.

And his September 2015 views on poverty:[116]

In most cases, poverty is something that happens to you, not something that you choose. You've got to to get this notion that these are just lazy and feckless individuals out of your mind. They're not. They're working full time just to maintain the bare minimum. I don't see why a bit of compassion is out of order. If it were you in their position, unable to catch a break, unable to get off the bottom rung, are you honestly going to sit there and tell me that you would say the blame lies entirely with you and none of it lies on the system within which you are trapped? [Benjamin goes on to quote the socialist novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists [117]]

Compare his 2015 views on Black Lives Matter:

I believe there are a lot of black guys who are unjustly shot ... Even if I'm wrong, I think the black community feels that way. I think they very much feel like they've been persecuted by the police in a lot of places and I would be surprised if that feeling was misplaced. ... I think that dismissing their complaints as being utterly illegitimate is unfair, and I think that if you were in their position you wouldn't want your complaints dismissed as illegitimate by some guy on a radio show.[118] ... The problem is that the people who are still protesting are being ignored in favour of the people who are causing all the trouble.[119]

And his 2016 views on Black Lives Matter:

The reality on the ground is that this is a black supremacist movement that is violent and dangerous and wants to kill police officers. This is the reality of what Black Lives Matter has done.[120]

Compare his September 2015 views on no platforming:

I, personally, think that everything should be given a platform at least to a certain degree, even if it's simply just to discredit it.[121]

And his December 2015 views on no platforming:

I don't no-platform often but I'm not giving that fucking disgusting paedo a platform. It's not happening. She's vile and she knows it.[122]

Trump defender

“ ” The only joy I get in talking about Trump is how he turns [liberals] mental. —Carl Benjamin, who hates talking about Trump[123]

Please enjoy the beliefs of the "classical liberal" Carl Benjamin:

"You will have two anti-establishment characters running for president and thank God, it means that Bernie Sanders is going to win." [124]

"I'd love to see Trump as president. He's crazy, but fuck it, how could it be any worse." [125]

On "The Assassination of Donald Trump" (44:08!), Benjamin tells us that Trump is "a manifestation of the will of the people" to "regain control of the system". According to Benjamin, if Trump is assassinated, then his successor will be a "Julius Caesar" who will "end [the American] republic". [126]

Benjamin whined about John Oliver's #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain skit. [127] Twice. [128] (Benjamin also apparently fails to realize that, in a show spanning 30 minutes, the end skit was not actually the brunt of Oliver's criticism.) In the same vein, Benjamin defended poor Donald Trump from the biased media. [129] Again. [130] And again. [131] And again. [132] And again. [133] And again. [134] And again. [135] Benjamin genuinely thinks that: "They do nothing but lie. Trump is right to call CNN fake news and ignore their requests for comment." [136]

Twice. (Benjamin also apparently fails to realize that, in a show spanning 30 minutes, the end skit was actually the brunt of Oliver's criticism.) Benjamin published "Hillary must lose." [137] Since then, it's been a downhill slide, with "Anyone But Hillary", [138] Trump's election will "spell the end of social justice, which I think is a damn good thing", [139] and the crown jewel, "Walls are not racist". [140] [141]

Since then, it's been a downhill slide, with "Anyone But Hillary", Trump's election will "spell the end of social justice, which I think is a damn good thing", and the crown jewel, "Walls are not racist". "Anyone got a Trump/May handshake, Hillary supporter autistic screeching meme?" [142]

"And left-wing radicals try and fail repeatedly to assassinate Trump, while initiating violence and public persecution of his supporters."[143]

“ ” RationalWiki: A place so honest they actually think I'm a Donald Trump supporter. —Carl Benjamin, Supreme Commander of the Ministry of Truth[144]

Other statements

Age of consent

Benjamin discussed the age of consent in a 2014 livestream with "The Justicar":[148]

The Justicar: Where do you draw the line?

Benjamin: Um, you know, I don't know. I guess I'd probably say 16 like it is in this country. It seems reasonable.

The Justicar: It's 25. I am good puritan man.

Benjamin: (laughs) Yeah, exactly. No, I don't know. I mean it's quite-- it's fairly arbitrary really because what's the difference between 16 and 17 or 15 and 16, you know?

The Justicar: Oh I’ll tell you what the difference is.

Benjamin: Go on.

The Justicar: 15 will get you 10 and 10 will get you 20. That’s the difference. No, I don’t agree with having an age of consent law at all.

Benjamin: No? Why not?

The Justicar: I think they’re ridiculous. Whenever you impose an age, which as you just said is wholly arbitrary, what you say is that 100% of the people below this age are all too stupid to make a decision whereas 100% of people above this age are all presumptively able to make the decision. And neither assumption is a safe one.

Benjamin: Yeah, I agree. I think that it’s very-- the thing is it is broad but I do see why there are people who would want age of consent laws.

The Justicar: No, I know why there are people who want laws for all kinds of things. It’s about control.

Benjamin: Yeah, but I mean, protecting teenagers from the depredations of older, presumably, men but I’m sure in a lot of cases women. I can see that.[149] [...] The Justicar: I was well under the age of 11 when I started having sex and so what I like to do is, for people on the other side of the argument, what you have to do is you have to say that someone like me, not anybody else, but me, that I was too stupid to appreciate the nature and quality of what I was doing at the time. Please convince me I didn’t know what I was doing.

Benjamin: Yeah, I think it depends on the child really, doesn’t it? Because some kids mature faster than others.

The Justicar: That’s what the Catholics say.

Benjamin: It’s true. It’s true though. It should really be a case-by-case basis.[150]

Reactionary fans



Bottom: Nazi war ensign. Top: Kekistan.Bottom: Nazi war ensign.

Benjamin has been endorsed by:

Reactionary neo-Nazi blog MoreRight [151]

The English Defense League. [152] Benjamin sees no problem with this, even claiming it as a win (though he acknowledges that the EDL is racist). [153]

Benjamin sees no problem with this, even claiming it as a win (though he acknowledges that the EDL is racist). Rabidly anti-feminist Paul Elam of A Voice for Men. (Originally, Elam criticized Benjamin over his claims that MRAs have "achieved nothing". [154] After viewing AVFM's video, Benjamin apologized in the comment section, and agreed that MRAs have achieved change. [155] Paul Elam then said that he subscribes to Benjamin, watches his videos, and that there is a "good person in that man". [156] )

After viewing AVFM's video, Benjamin apologized in the comment section, and agreed that MRAs achieved change. Paul Elam then said that he subscribes to Benjamin, watches his videos, and that there is a "good person in that man". ) The decidedly reactionary Breitbart, which looked positively on "his parody of their identity politics"[157] and described him as a cultural libertarian (read: opposed to the "regressive left")[158]

Benjamin ran a channel called "Vae Victis" "The New Memedia" "The Thinkery"[note 9] aimed at engaging his "meme culture" audience. Benjamin hasn't helped matters by repeatedly posting videos about the people of "Kekistan",[159][note 10] a fictional ethnicity that he describes as oppressed.[160] Kekistan is symbolized by a Nazi-flag analog with "KEK" replacing the swastika and frequent Pepe memes.[161][162][163][164] Interestingly, this has both attracted[165][166] and pissed off[167][168] alt-right types. Benjamin maintains that "white nationalists actually really hate" Kekistan[169] and the flag's design is meant to be a mocking parody of Nazis.[170]

Relationship with the alt-right

“ ” I am literally as sympathetic to the alt-right as I am to the far left, and what did I recommend the alt-right do? Join the far left. [....] The alt-right can use social justice to advance their agenda, because it will end up being exactly the same agenda. You guys ultimately want the same thing, for different reasons. [....] Racial segregation is, incidentally, what both the alt-right and the far-left want. I don't want racial segregation. I am a product of miscegenation. I do not want racial segregation in my society, because it means parts of my family would be split up from one another. But you guys, you all want racial segregation. Or are you gonna start, what are you gonna do, Left Wing Watch, are you gonna start reporting on when the colleges end up segregating the students? I don't think so. I think you're OK with that, aren't you, Jared, 'cause you're a vile piece of shit. —Carl Benjamin, whataboutery king[29]

Benjamin has an interesting relationship with the alt-right. He personally does not identify as alt-right[171] and has mocked and criticised them on Twitter.[172] He has tried to provoke his alt-right followers into unfollowing and blocking him by tweeting them with interracial gay pornography.[note 11][173][174] He has opposed racist viewpoints espoused by the alt-right such as their discouragement of "race mixing", their use of "scientific racism" and their promotion of racial segregation.[175] He has also mocked the idea of white genocide[176][177] and does not agree with the alt-right narrative that a white genocide is occurring.[178] Benjamin originally claimed his own grandfather is black,[179][180] but later admitted that his grandfather was probably mixed race, as a dark-skinned man from St. Helena, an island of largely mixed race people between southwest Africa and South America.[181] Due to these statements, some in the alt-right do not consider Benjamin "racially pure"[182] and have labeled him with the obvious, cringeworthy insults expected from the alt-right.[183]

However, despite having no apparent intention to do so, he appears to be helping the alt-right more than he is hurting them. For example, Andrew Anglin of The Daily Stormer said he did not feel it was necessary to oppose Benjamin since "on some level he is leading people in our direction (as we are the obvious conclusion to reactionary thought)."[184] Similarly, Richard Spencer believes that people like Benjamin can be "great entry points" to the alt-right.[4] An example of this happened when Benjamin joined a hangout with self-identified alt-righters, and one of them thanked Benjamin for "putting me on the path that got me here."[185] He has also helped the alt-right by inviting figures such as Millennial Woes onto a livestream, thereby giving him free publicity.[186] Benjamin has also legitimised some of the alt-right's rhetoric such as the belief that Cultural Marxism is real and a threat to modern society.[9] While some in the alt-right are completely hostile to him,[183] others essentially see him as someone who acts as a gateway to their ideology.

After the violence at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville , Benjamin released a video in which he attempted to both denounce the alt-right but also legitimise their point of view. Benjamin said he despises three quarters of the attendees at the rally[187] but still maintained that the alt-right deserve to have their "problems" considered.[188][note 12] While Benjamin has claimed to not believe in the white genocide conspiracy theory,[178] he said that the demographic shifts in America seemed to be "part of some plan" by the Democratic Party.[189][190] This is a statement which, at the very least, enables those in the alt-right. Benjamin also emphasised that he believes there is a significant amount of anti-white hatred in the United States.[191]

In August of 2017, Benjamin released a video called "Nazis are Bad", where he criticized Nazis and Neo-Nazi ideology. In 48 hours it received over 10,000 comments, with many of Benjamin's viewers taking offense at his statements and attempting to defend Nazism, White Nationalism, and/or deny the Holocaust. Many comments focused on either "the Jew book" he was reading from ("The Ominous Parrallels" by Leonard Peikoff, who is the heir of Ayn Rand), or calling Benjamin himself a Jew/Jewish shill.[192] This prompted him to release a follow-up video two days later, "Answering Nazi Comments" (which reached 6,600 comments in just six hours, most in the same vein as the first video's) in which Benjamin questioned and mocked the Nazi commenters.[193]

In December 2017, Kraut and Tea had one of his videos called "The Alt Right is too dumb for Quantitative Genetics" flagged and removed,[194] in which Benjamin helped out by mirroring his video, which has also been flagged.[195][196]

Spat with the Daily Stormer

“ ” Sargon of Akkad is Just an SJW Who Hates Women —TL;DR: hating on progressives isn't racist enough for neo-Nazis[197]

Andrew Anglin, neo-Nazi founder & editor of the white supremacist Daily Stormer website, criticized Benjamin for not being right-wing enough. Anglin put out an article titled, "Sargon of Akkad Needs to Address His Implicit Support for Pakistani Child-Rape". It reads:[198]

Sargon of Akkad, who is probably the best anti-feminist YouTuber, has put out another video about Rotherham. It’s good enough, but fails to deal with the core problem, which is that we are being invaded by an alien race. Instead of addressing the reality that these people engaged in this child-rape program because they were non-White Moslems who have a completely different biological make-up and thus a completely different moral framework, he blames it on political correctness.

Benjamin's video indeed blamed the rapes on British society's supposed "political correctness".[199] Benjamin responded, saying:[200]

"A statement which anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be able to discern means that British authorities allowed this to carry on, because they were afraid of being called racist, in the face of Pakistani community leaders demanding that something be done. Again, I stress that this is a failure of the British authorities. Any community will have a subset of it that is a nefarious criminal element.

And the Daily Stormer shot back:[197]

On the whole, I believe that people who are criticizing modern liberalism, and not talking about the invasion, are wasting time. Obviously, here on the Daily Stormer, we talk about all sorts of issues with the modern system, from historical revisionism to gay “marriage.” However, the main issue, the one which we nail ceaselessly, is the replacement of our population with hordes of non-Whites. Because we can pass a law banning homosexuality, we can remove the vote from women, we can redistribute wealth. One thing we can never do, however, is reclaim our homelands once the hordes reach a saturation point and declare themselves rulers. There is simply no going back from that. Once it is done, it is done. I was fine with Sargon being a reactionary who focused exclusively on the feminist issue. I have watched many of his videos, and not really disagreed with any of it. However, if that is where he feels comfortable, even if it is simply because he wants to remain on YouTube, that’s fine. But seeing him blame the British people for Pakistani child rape gangs was something that needed addressed [sic] . [....] Sargon’s video relies heavily on the punchy dry-humor which makes Sargon a popular YouTube personality. He is not known for introducing new ideas, and that is fine, we like to watch his videos anyway because he recycles other people’s ideas in a way which is fun. Often very fun. Regrettably, with this video, the ideas he recycles are tired SWJ memes which could have been pulled directly from any random Tumblr blog.

In the end, Anglin has this to say about Benjamin:[184]

I have now pretty well agreed not to argue with Sargon of Akkad any further, as I don't really see any point to it, and feel that on some level he is leading people in our direction (as we are the obvious conclusion of reactionary thought) , so there is no reason to try and obliterate him.

UKIP

In June 2018 Benjamin joined UKIP together with Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos and Count Dankula in order to "take it over in a soft coup which will lead to the total restoration of freedom in the United Kingdom",[201] calling it "war plan purple" (how edgy). This was followed by a short boost of popularity and the party gaining around five hundred members.[202] They then turned the party even more further to the right by allowing former EDL leader Tommy Robinson to become Gerard Batten's advisor on grooming gangs. [203] This made many famous UKIP politicians (most notably Nigel Farage) leave the party because of the rising Islamophobia and extremism in the party. [204] Benjamin and his alt-right friends aborted UKIP in 6 months and ruined it. Good Job!

In April 2019, deciding that Carl hadn't quite ruined their party enough the last time he got involved; UKIP have put him up in the number two position for the 2019 European Parliament election , in the South West Region. [205] Unfortunately for him, Farage's upstart Brexit Party took a considerable number of votes from UKIP (which faced a 29.1% drop in vote share), meaning UKIP lost both of their seats in that region.[206]

Interviews

Benjamin has debated, interviewed, and been interviewed by, among others:

Carl's Greatest Hits

What article on the man wouldn't be complete without a quick summary of his most notable gaffs?

9/11 was an inside job. [265]

Feminism caused Elliot Rodger to kill people. [266]

"I wouldn't even rape you (Jess Phillips a Labour Party MP)". [267] A comment so bad that Gerard Batten went on national TV to apologise deflect by saying it was "satire". [268] Gives Jo Cox vibes.

A comment so bad that Gerard Batten went on national TV to deflect by saying it was "satire". Gives Jo Cox vibes. Carl displaying his masterful grasp of history: "I presume they're all foreign inventions? Democracy, freedom..." [269] . Democracy actually first appears in the historical record in Greece. When this was pointed out, Sargon replied with the non-sequitur "the mother of parliaments did not begin in Greece", which is more a statement about the British empire than origins of the concept.

. Democracy actually first appears in the historical record in Greece. When this was pointed out, Sargon replied with the non-sequitur "the mother of parliaments did not begin in Greece", which is more a statement about the British empire than origins of the concept. English speakers can't be Nazis, because semantics.

See also

Notes