Actor Wil Wheaton has long been a proponent of social justice activism in geek circles and video games. He’s also kind of a dick. This week, the former child actor raised the ire of his “woke” followers after he objected to being lumped in with liberal progressives who excused Donald Trump as a joke during the election.
Semi-famous for playing the most annoying character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the actor established himself as a proponent of geek culture by speaking at the Penny Arcade Expo in the late 2000s, establishing friendships with fantasy and sci-fi writers, and making occasional appearances on The Big Bang Theory.
Wheaton responded to a tweet by Muslim social justice activist Ayesha A. Siddiqi, who claimed that white liberals dismissed Trump as an “unpredictable goof” after he announced his plan to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. way back in 2015.
In fairness to Wheaton, Siddiqi’s statement is complete hyperbole, as most “white liberals” did not defend Trump; they instead raked him over the coals for it. Identity politics permeates through most discussions on the left, and Wil Wheaton—in a rare moment of clarity—took offense to Siddiqi’s claim.
Don't you fucking DARE lump me in with anyone who would say or believe this garbage. https://t.co/r9SDviljEm
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) January 27, 2017
Wheaton, who has well over 3 million followers on Twitter, was dogpiled by angry followers who accused him of bullying the hyperbolic leftist.
Siddiqi is by no means a nobody—she is the Editor-in-Chief at The New Inquiry and well-known for being a social media firebrand who makes her living engaging in arguments online. She first established herself through her popular Twitter account and had a brief stint at BuzzFeed running their op-ed section, filling a job listing that required “at least 2 years’ experience arguing on the Internet.” She was eventually fired for publicly criticizing her employer’s coverage of religious terrorism, Sharia law and “Islamism.”
That didn’t stop crybullies from jumping to her defense against Wheaton. A PopSci writer accused him of “targeting” Siddiqi in his response instead of sticking up for her against the strawman she built.
“Yes. I’ve been doing that,” replied Wheaton. “I’ll keep doing that. I won’t let myself be used as the public representation of something I’m not. When he was urged to simply ignore her and move on, he did not relent.
“When I am publicly misrepresented, I will speak up for myself in public. I don’t care who is doing the misrepresenting,” he said.
This didn’t go down well with his followers, who accused him of doing what Men’s Rights Advocates do when they say “not all men (are evil).”
@laureningram @AyeshaASiddiqi No, I'm not. I said "not me." Don't put words in my mouth and don't misrepresent me.
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) January 27, 2017
Some accused him of “white fragility”—a term used to describe white individuals unable to accept responsibility for what other white people do. Others attempted to justify Siddiqi’s over-generalization of white liberals. A few even tried to bully Wheaton into making an apology, and demanded that he prostrate himself, give her money, delete the tweets, and be silent.
.@wilw You're siccing the hordes on a Muslim woman because you wrongly internalized a valid critique of white supremacy? This is foul.
— Andrea Grimes (@andreagrimes) January 28, 2017
.@wilw You need to delete this tweet, publicly apologize, donate a fuckload of money and shut the entire fuck up.
— Andrea Grimes (@andreagrimes) January 28, 2017
Ultimately, nothing Wheaton does will ever please the proponents of social justice, who are out for blood. This might just be the wakeup call he needs to exit the asylum of the far left.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
