Mehdi Hasan speaks onstage during the Crooked Media – Lovett or Leave It: Live on Tour, on April … More
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In an era of increasingly fragmented media and ideological echo chambers, Jubilee’s web series Surrounded has made a name for itself as one of the most provocative political shows on YouTube – with a formula that, in essence, calls for bringing opposing viewpoints into the same room and letting the sparks fly. Past guests have included everyone from atheist Alex O’Connor to former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson. But it’s the show’s latest episode, which has already racked up more than 3 million views (as of this writing), that might be the most explosive yet.
Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, a political commenter known for his sharp and unflinching debate style, is the lone progressive in this new episode of Surrounded that’s going viral, and he’s pitted against 20 self-identified “far-right” conservatives for a conversation about democracy and the Constitution, among other things, that gets pretty raw and even, at times, surreal. Long story short, if you assumed we were a polarized country before, just wait until you’ve seen this new debate with the former MSNBC host at its center.
Hasan told Jubilee afterward that he “genuinely had not been aware of how extreme many of (his debate opponents) would be.” And that’s saying something — especially given what happens close to the debate’s halfway mark.
The ‘Surrounded’ debate exchange that stunned Mehdi Hasan
This particular encounter begins in relatively straightforward fashion, at least as far as arguments about President Trump go. Hasan sets out his proposition: That Trump is “defying the Constitution.” A young man named Connor who races to the mic first to take up the opposing side, though, not only proceeds to enthusiastically argue in favor of Trump undermining the Constitution (he describes doing so as “good”). Pressed by Hasan, he elaborates: “I think (Trump) should go further,” given that Connor thinks “the Constitution is a document that should seek to serve us.”
Hasan turns the tables, asking him, “So can Democrats do the same when they’re in office?” Connor: “Absolutely not.”
Again, Hasan: “Do you believe in democracy?” Connor: “Absolutely not.” When asked what he does believe in, Connor answers: “Autocracy.”
Hasan presses him to clarify, and the young man says he’s fine with “anything in line with Catholic teaching.”
Things only get more bizarre from there. Connor at one point praises Nazi legal theorist Carl Schmitt, prompting Hasan to interrupt and ask directly, “Are you a fan of the Nazis?” “I frankly don’t care about being called a Nazi at all,” Connor replies. When asked if he condemns Nazi persecution of Jews, he shrugs: “I think there was a little bit of persecution…”
Hasan, visibly stunned, fires back: “We may have to rename this show, because you’re a little bit more than a far-right Republican.” “What can I say?” Connor smirks. Hasan answers: “I think you can say, ‘I’m a fascist.’” Connor laughs and confirms: “Yeah, I am.”
Scattered applause can be heard among some of the participants.
“I’m not ashamed of that,” Connor continues. To which Hasan concludes, “The only good thing about this fascist moment we’re in is that you guys are so open about it.”
Hasan later reflected in post-debate remarks to Jubilee staff, included at the very end of the video below: “I thought it would be an interesting exercise in trying to understand what genuine far-right conservative folks think. And it was kind of disturbing to see that they think what I thought they think — and they were happy to say it out loud.”
Surrounded has long attracted Gen Z and millennial viewers hungry for unfiltered ideological clashes, and this new episode certainly delivered that in spades. One also can’t help wondering if this one feels, too, like a high-water mark of sorts. In other words: Regarding forums like these, do they expose extremism, or inadvertently legitimize it?
As one YouTube commenter aptly summed up Hasan’s Surrounded episode: “This might be the most insane Jubilee video yet.”
