Standing with Milo Yiannopoulos Against Media Witch Hunt

The political arena becomes more Machiavellian with each passing day. This week’s firestorm includes controversial journalist and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who was accused of defending pedophilia and child sex. Milo is already experiencing immense fallout from this media-generated outrage.

The political establishment has embarked on a witch-hunt against Milo like never before. Sadly, it looks like the sphere originated from “conservative” media outlets and pundits who were prominent Donald Trump critics over the past year. Already, Milo lost his book deal with Simon & Schuster and was dropped as the keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

“But you know what? I’m grateful for Father Michael. I wouldn’t give nearly such good head if it wasn’t for him,” Yiannopoulos said in a tongue-and-cheek joke about being victimized as a young child. Before he made this comment on a podcast, Milo was describing the “complexities, subtleties and complicated nature” of relationships between “younger boys and older men” where the troubled boys get “security and safety and provide them with love.”

As a child, Milo was the victim of a sexual assault. Being a victim may have influenced his sexual behavior and saddled him with a great deal of trauma that he may not even fully recognize. If he is going to be criticized for non-libertarian beliefs on border enforcement, that’s one thing. However, attacking a known victim with deceptive, edited clips is incredibly low and disgusting. Depicting a victim as a predator when he was the one who was preyed upon is particularly despicable.

Sadly, it was Milo’s candor regarding his own troubled sexual past that has allowed his desperate opponents to seize upon that and attempt to destroy him. It may have been a bizarre or uncomfortable exchange, but in its full context, it does not sound like Milo was advocating child rape or pedophilia. However, this didn’t stop the disingenuous media jackals from attempting to destroy one of conservatism’s rising stars.

“Milo is not the first false prophet to amass a crowd of ‘conservative’ idol worshipers, but he is perhaps the most disturbing and ridiculous example of the phenomenon,” sanctimonious Blaze commenter Matt Walsh said in a social media post. He apparently expects his readers to be unaware that he was one of the major progenitors of this smear. “And now he has helpfully demonstrated its pitfalls.”

The hit piece came through the familiar establishment channels. An edited clip was posted by the “Reagan Battalion,” a front-group linked to CIA ringer and Neocon-backed spoiler Presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who aggressively tried to sabotage Trump’s Presidency. It was then re-tweeted by disgraced former Breitbart reporter Ben Shapiro. Nobody pushed the story harder than Glenn Beck, who has an ax to grind due to his messy public feud with Milo. From there, the story was picked up by Beck’s buddies at CNN and the rest of the mainstream media. Now Milo’s livelihood is in danger.

Regardless of what you think about Milo, his courage to stand up to the Left under heavy duress is admirable. Living in a world where Big Brother is an undeniable reality, individuals need to be emboldened to speak out and be heard in these troubled times. Milo encourages people to do that in an incredibly flamboyant, entertaining, and provocative way. Regardless of what you may think of his ridiculous antics, Milo has been effective in rallying people to the causes of free speech and anti-leftism.

Furthermore, this witch hunt hurts the cause of liberty. If Milo can be crucified in the court of public opinion and be silenced on specious charges, it could easily happen to others. As we saw at the International Students for Liberty Conference this past weekend, there is a hostile movement building on the Left to stomp out free speech through brute force. This media assassination of Milo is another byproduct of that toxic movement, and libertarians should be careful not to be hoisted on their own petard.

Because of those reasons and more, I am proud to stand with Milo. I hope that his media career continues to blossom, and that he has many more successful public appearances. Milo’s perspective is a very important one in our nation, and his voice needs to be heard during these troubled times. Regardless of whether you like him or not, Milo’s rights must be protected. That is why I am affirming my unwavering support behind free speech by standing with Milo during this controversy.