(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Cenk Uygur, founder of leftist media network The Young Turks, went on Timcast IRL on Tuesday and criticized the corporate media for acting as a Democrat “marketing” tool rather than a journalistic outlet.
Host Tim Pool asked how Democrats can restore trust in the media, prompting Uygur to launch an all-out attack on left-leaning cable news networks that ignore his network’s dominance.
“What’s the biggest left-wing network? We are, TYT. It’s 27 million subscribers, right? Thirty billion lifetime views. So, when they’re like, ‘Oh, I wish we had a Joe Rogan of the left!’ Hey, idiots, we have more subscribers, more views, etc. But to them, ‘No, you don’t count because you’re honest,’” Uygur said.
Ugyur told Timcast IRL panelists that Democrats claiming they want their own Joe Rogan—the popular podcaster whose interview with President-elect Donald Trump accumulated millions of views within its first 24 hours—didn’t mean they want a fair and balanced podcaster on their side of the aisle.
“‘We didn’t mean we want left-wing media. We meant we want left-wing media to do our propaganda. But you won’t do our propaganda,’” Ugyur said. “Well, that’s why we’re popular! Because we don’t do your propaganda!”
The Young Turks founder said Democrat politicians only wish they had an influential mouthpiece spouting false narratives that President Joe Biden is youthful or that Vice President Kamala Harris can speak without a teleprompter.
“You’re never gonna get that,” Uygur said.
He mocked leftist corporate media’s coverage of establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle by making the point that they overtax the middle class to fund party elites.
“‘Hey, what are we doing? We’re robbing the middle class to pay the rich. Oh, okay, great. Hey, Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden did a beautiful bipartisan deal!’” Uygur jeered, eliciting laughter from Pool. “‘Oh, that’s so great! They’re both so moderate!’”
Uygur said cable news anchors are actually part of a larger political marketing effort rather than unbiased reporting.
“It’s like a giant marketing operation. If you are on cable news, you are not in news. You are in marketing—you just don’t realize it,” he said.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
