Never Apologize, Always Double Down

Look, the right has been apologetic and cautious for longer than I can remember. It’s pathetic.

The right wing’s been playing it safe for too long, and it’s time to shake things up. The recent Jubilee debate—where Mehdi Hasan took on 20 far-right conservatives—shows exactly why the right needs to get loud, bold, and unapologetic. Two moments from that wild debate are going to stick with people. First, there’s Pinesap, a guy tied to Nick Fuentes, grinning ear-to-ear as he owns the “fascist” label like it’s a badge of honor. Then there’s @doomernat22, who straight-up told Hasan to “get the hell out” of the country. These moments cut through the noise and really get to the root of what the modern far right needs to do in order to gain ground in our modern political landscape.

Alright, let’s get real about what went down in that Jubilee debate and why the right needs to take a hard look at what worked. First off, Pinesap’s bombshell moment—when Mehdi Hasan threw out the “fascist” label and Pinesap just leaned into it with a cocky, “Yeah, I am.” The room froze. Some clapped, others gasped, but everyone was paying attention. Mehdi had no response to Pinesap’s admission, eventually weakly replying with “I don’t debate fascists”. Of course, Pinesap correctly assessed that this is a concession of the debate.

It’s a debate, if you refuse to engage then you lose Mehdi.

Medhi, a so-called “journalist”, was prepared to show up with his talking points and his script, convinced the conservatives in the room were the villains, ready to score points with debate tactics, rhetorical traps and gotchas. If we play by the left’s scripts, it’s a game we cant win because it was never about an open and honest dialogue.

So Pinesap flipped the script, he doubled down and refused to apologize. Consequences be damned. And there were consequences, he sadly got fired from his job for the admission. For far too long we have played into the left’s rhetorical framework and we have been losing. Because they created the framework in the first place. You can't win when your opponent writes the rules. Instead the Overton Window must be shifted to the right.

Pinesap recognized that Medhi, and much of the audience, are not going to be convinced if he stays in Medhi’s preferred rhetorical framework. Attempting to do so just looks weak. And, for one, am tired of the cowardice. We need more disrupters to, well, disrupt. Pinesap’s unapologetic vision, and refusal to back down, condemn or apologize was a refreshing breath of fresh air that has been sorely needed for some time.

If we strip away the buzzwords, “racist”, “fascist”, “nazi”. Then what arguments do they even have left? Much of Medhi’s arguments were swiftly debunked by the debaters present. It made Hasan’s slick arguments look like he was just yelling for the cameras. Theatre kid levels of performative.

The right needs to take a cue here: Stand your ground and stop dancing around your point.

And let’s not skip @doomernat22 ’s moment. Telling Hasan to “get out” was harsh, but a sentiment that I emphatically agree with. Hasan should get the f**k out of my country. An Indian who barely has ties to my country wants to tell me how the country should be run. Doomer’s unfiltered expression resonates with many in the audience. Being an immigrant is no longer an acceptable excuse to degrade the country.

This entire segment quickly gets to the core of what an American is. Not just the land but the people. Americans are largely White Christians who have been here for generations. Many scoff at the idea of White’s considering themselves native Americans and telling immigrants like Hasan to “get out” but America would not exist without white people and did not exist before white people. White’s are native Americans.

Both of these moments clearly caught Hasan off guard, but furthermore, they will also be in the cultural zeitgeist. I saw some people complain that this felt like people were trying to get “ based” soundbites, or will appealing to emotions, or were trying to sound like imitations of Nick Fuentes. Yes, exactly, those are the things that win!

The soundbites will be remembered. Humans are emotional creatures. “Facts don’t care about your feelings” hasn’t worked because humans appeal to emotions first. And Nick Fuentes has been the most effective right wing figure of the modern age, there’s nothing wrong with trying to change our tactics and duplicate Nick’s success. In fact, we’d be stupid not to.

We have to change the rules if we are going to win.