Spoof UK political pundit Jonathan Pie’s rant about the U.S. election has gone viral.
Pie is left-leaning but he takes Hillary Clinton and the liberal political establishment to task in an expletive-laden rant, accusing them of being afraid of free speech and being too willing to insult Trump voters as racist or sexist.
The video has already been viewed over 20 million times and liked over 175,000 times on Facebook. Pie is a fictional political reporter who is the creation of English comedian Tom Walker.
In the video he declares of Clinton: “I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. Be a better candidate!” But he “can’t say this to my friends because I’d get lynched.”
Pie adds: “Not everyone that voted for Trump is a sexist or a racist. How many times does the vote not have to go our way before we realize that our argument isn’t won by hurling labels and insults? When will we learn that the key is discussion? If you are unwilling to discuss, then you are creating the conditions in which Donald Trump and people like him thrive.”
He concludes with a rousing defense of free speech: “If you’re on the right or even against the prevailing view you are attacked for raising your opinion. That’s why people wait until they’re in the voting booth.
“It’s time to stop ignoring your opponents or worse trying to silence them. It’s time to stop banning people from universities…if my mansplaining is offending you, you can either fuck off to your safe space or you can engage and debate me and tell me what I’m getting wrong…being offended doesn’t work anymore, throwing insults doesn’t work anymore.
As well as praise, Pie has attracted criticism from liberals who seem unaware he is fictional and display the very same political close-mindedness he is calling out in the video:
Even comedians and satirists like Jonathan Pie & Russell Brand have followed this way of thinking of humanizing white supremacy.
— Eloquent Forbearance (@_TheBeck_) November 14, 2016
Jonathan Pie decided to overlook just about everything in order to make a video with some of the wildest projections I’ve ever witnessed.
— Bae Grylls (@TheAuracl3) November 14, 2016
Hands up if your FB feed is white dudes sharing that Jonathan Pie rant and not understanding everything wrong with respectability politics.
— Resting Zak Face (@ZakEdwardsLive) November 12, 2016
Disheartened to see the latest Jonathan Pie video being lauded. In my view, it is completely wrong. What we on the left should do is… (1)
— Sigmund Chalfont (@SigmundChalfont) November 14, 2016
Am I the only person who finds Jonathan Pie fucking tiresome as shit? He’s the right’s favourite left-wing commentator.
— Barnaby Merrill (@BRTMerrill) November 14, 2016
UK diversity watch website Consented commented of the video: “What a privileged and frankly bullshit argument.”
But of course Pie’s rant has struck a chord with disaffected liberals as well as conservatives who would like nothing more than for the left to be more tolerant.
@JonathanPieNews never heard of Jonathan Pie before the “why Trump won rant” . But have spent much of today watching. (Pie for president)
— Rune Hagen (@Rune_1975) November 13, 2016
In case you missed it, I shot my bolt early this week & went viral in the process. #USElection2016 #TrumpPresident https://t.co/vXRMk9z0aZ
— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) 11 November 2016
