Debate-style video roils internet after participant openly identifies as fascist
The episode, which was posted Sunday, featured British American journalist Medhi Hasan, who was tasked with debating 20 'far-right conservatives.' Hasan hosted a show on MSNBC from February 2021 to January 2024.
Hasan had made the claim that President Donald Trump is 'defying the Constitution' as one of the topics of conversation. In a roughly seven-minute-long debate with Hasan, Connor spoke about his desire for an autocracy in the United States and praised the ideas of Carl Schmitt, a Nazi Party political philosopher, while saying there was 'a little bit of persecution' of Jewish people during the Holocaust.
'You're a fan of the Nazis?' Hasan asked the participant.
'I, frankly, don't care being called a Nazi at all,' Connor said.
Later on, Hasan said, 'We may have to rename this show, because you're a little bit more than a far-right Republican.'
'What can I say?' Connor replied.
'I think you say, 'I'm a fascist.''
'Yeah, I am,' Connor said with a smile as several others in the circle clapped.
In just two days, the YouTube video has garnered 4 million views. Clips quickly began spreading online, sparking criticism that the channel and YouTube were platforming pro-fascist content.
'Jubilee this isn't even a debate anymore. It's just pure hatred that these people have in their hearts. Giving these people a platform is insane to me,' said a comment that got over a thousand likes under the YouTube video.
A creator known by the username @mattxiv on X posted a remark that was viewed over 500,000 times: 'i don't think a channel that gives a platform of millions to people who self identify as 'fascist' should be allowed to monetize its videos. do you @youtube.' YouTube did not respond to a request for comment.
Data from Google showed that searches for 'Jubilee' jumped significantly Tuesday after Connor announced he had been fired from his job.
Hasan has since said online that the extent of the guests' views were not thoroughly communicated to him before he went on the show.
'To be clear, I didn't know they would be actual outright open fascists!' Hasan said on X.
In another reply, responding to someone who had inquired about why Hasan would agree to go on the show if 'Jubilee invited a bunch of nazis,' he said that 'that's not how the debate was sold to me. You can see my shock when they start expressing their views openly.'
Connor later claimed that he was fired because of his participation in the video. In an interview with the right-wing online social media brand TheRiftTV, Connor said being fired made him feel 'destroyed.' TheRiftTV started a fundraiser to help him as he looks for new jobs which has already received over $30,000. Connor did not respond to a request for comment.
'Unfortunately voicing fully legal traditional right wing political views results in real consequences,' read the description of the campaign on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site that has become a go-to platform for controversial crowdfunding campaigns. 'This is cancel culture and political discrimination on full display.'
In what appears to be Connor's Telegram channel, many rallied behind him in his debate, writing that Hasan 'had nothing to say because you were right,' among other hate comments about Hasan.
The YouTube video was part of Jubilee's web series 'Surrounded,' in which one guest sits in the middle of a circle, 'surrounded' by around 20 people with opposing viewpoints. The web series has featured well-known political influencers as the main debaters, including Candance Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro.
The show works by having the main guest start a debate by making a claim and having those who wish to debate it rush up to a chair facing the person in the middle. Whoever touches the chair first is allowed to take part.
Whoever is sitting in the chair is able to take part in the debate until those surrounding the chair decide to vote the participant off. People who wish for the person in the middle to be voted off can raise a red flag, and if enough people raise their flags, the person is kicked off the debate and replaced by another person in the circle.
This isn't the only video that has gone viral for its controversial participants. Clips from several other 'Surrounded' videos have caused controversy in the past, with users claiming that the channel was giving a platform to bigoted views. One of the channel's most viewed videos, a debate in which Kirk is surrounded by '25 Liberal College Students,' accumulated 30 million views.
In an interview this year, Jubilee Media CEO Jason Lee addressed those concerns, saying the channel hosts people with controversial views to give their audiences the 'ability to hear nuanced perspective[s].' He added that the show tries to limit misinformation by incorporating fact-checks throughout the videos. Jubilee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'It's a question that we've been asked about: 'Is it dangerous to platform or have certain voices or points of view on?' And the way I would respond to that is I feel like we live in a more dangerous world if two individuals are not able to sit in the same room together and have a conversation,' Lee said. 'It doesn't necessarily mean that conversation is going to be productive or that anyone is going to necessarily change your point of view, but I think that that is sorely missing.'
The video featuring Hasan's debate with Connor features only one fact-check, for a claim Connor made about the number of people killed by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
Jubilee's videos span a range of topic areas. Currently, the channel is recruiting people for its 'Surrounded' series, including 'Conspiracy Theorists,' 'Conservative Christians' and 'Anti Capitalist[s],' and are part of a larger trend of debate-style internet content.
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In a public filing, Kent wrote that he was the "sole managing director" and it was "used only as a pass-through entity for funds received for consulting income." He added the company had been dormant since 2017. That was when Kent started working for Career Education Colleges and Universities. The group's CEO, Jason Altmire, said he understood Kent wasn't involved in the Education Affiliates settlement and that the company had admitted no wrongdoing. He added that Kent's "impeccable character" meant he was not worried about his past employment. At that for-profit trade group, Kent earned a reputation as an avid critic of regulation of for-profit schools, especially toward Biden administration policies. He often spoke against the 90/10 rule, a regulation that requires for-profit colleges receive at least 10% of their income from sources other than the federal government. Previously, funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which includes the G.I. Bill, had counted toward the 10% side. Veteran advocacy groups argued that loophole gave for-profit colleges an incentive to aggressively recruit students paying with the G.I. Bill as a counterbalance to students paying only with federal financial aid. In 2021, Congress voted to include all forms of federal funding on the 90% side of the rule, not just money from the Education Department as part of a pandemic relief package. CECU, and sometimes Kent directly, had initially argued against that effort, saying the move would limit veterans' access to higher education. Still, representatives for the for-profit sector participated in the federal rulemaking process and CECU abstained from filing a challenge against the final rule. Altmire praised the Trump administration's recent tweak to the rule allowing universities to count some unaccredited programs toward the non-federal funding side. He said the rule does a poor job of measuring quality, but that the group appreciated "the Department's efforts to at least apply it in a more evenhanded way for as long as it remains in statute." He told USA TODAY Kent was what the Education Department needed during a transitional time in higher education. He added that Kent had deep policy knowledge and "is not driven by partisanship and brings a fair and unbiased perspective to the role." Unlike McMahon, who is newer to the often byzantine world of higher education policy, Kent knows his way around. That is the assessment of Kevin Kinser, a Pennsylvania State University professor, who has long studied the for-profit sector and college accreditation. He said Kent likely understands the "ways that the higher education universe is dependent on the federal government for its viability," and how the administration could use that reliance to bend universities to its will. As for what Kent might do? Kinser said he might expect a drive for policies that would have colleges prioritize preparing students for the workforce. That stance would be in contrast to a traditional view of higher education that holds a degree is about helping people be engaged members of society in addition to getting a job. Kinser also said Kent's time working with an accreditor is likely to be useful as Trump on the campaign trail had declared college accreditation his "secret weapon" to take back universities from the "radical left." The administration has already pressured Columbia's and Harvard's accreditors to take action against the universities in response to its findings that they violated the rights of Jewish students. Trump also has signed an executive order that aims to make it easier for universities to switch accreditors and would ramp up efforts to recognize new ones. Kent has also won the support of some veterans groups focused on higher education and some trade groups, including the American Association of Community Colleges, which praised his knowledge of the department's policy making process. Others, such as Ohio University emeritus professor Richard Vedder, are unconcerned about Kent's ties to the for-profit industry. Vedder has studied for-profits and is the author of "Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education." Though he would not call himself an advocate for proprietary schools, he said the federal government and some Democratic members of Congress have long been unfairly critical of the for-profit industry. But Vedder said that every sector of higher education has "bad apples." And he added that all types of higher ed are subject to some Education Department regulations. Why should working at a for-profit disqualify someone from a top government post, he asked. It was important, he said, to have people who are familiar with higher education in that role. Vedder thought someone like Kent might push to reconfigure the 90/10 rule. He also questioned if he would push for more limits on federal student lending or even advocate to get the government out of that market altogether. Holding higher ed accountable or MAGA agenda to disrupt? In September 2023, Kent hung up his policy hat and moved into the public sector as a member of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration. A Republican, Youngkin on his first day in office signed an executive order to end the use of "inherently divisive concepts, including critical race theory," in K-12 public schools. In 2024, his administration reviewed the curriculum for courses about race and diversity at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University. The universities subsequently dropped the courses. Youngkin's administration also made headlines that year for signing a Democratic-sponsored bill ending the use of legacy admissions at Virginia's public schools. That cause is often associated with higher education access advocates who say the practice favors wealthy students. Kent's departing message to the Commonwealth focused on other accomplishments. The two paragraph email, which was obtained by USA TODAY, touted "reducing costs" while advocating for free speech and accountability at Virginia's colleges. He added he was "especially proud" of providing "data to make more informed decisions." That appears to be a reference to the "Virginia higher education planning guide and college outcomes," a tool with data like college graduation rates and student demographics. Much of that data was already available via the state organization that oversees higher education institutions in the state. It's unclear what Kent's legacy in Virginia will be long term. Of the lawmakers who responded to USA TODAY's media inquiries, a Republican and two Democrats told USA TODAY they didn't have much or any experience working with Kent directly in his roughly year and a half within the governor's office. But the chair of the Virginia Senate's education committee, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, said Kent's nomination raised "significant concerns." Hashmi, who is also the Democratic nominee for Virginia's lieutenant governor, pointed to his work with CECU to limit regulations for for-profit colleges and said in Virginia he had "hoped to destabilize accreditation policies for colleges and universities," but she did "not allow his efforts to go far." "Kent's stance aligns with a broader MAGA agenda to dismantle consumer protections and accountability measures and to undermine the quality of higher education," Hashmi said. In contrast, a trade group of private universities in Virginia said he was vital to "expanding and strengthening student aid programs." Youngkin praised Kent's work, saying in a statement shared by the Education Department that he "strengthened the management of our higher education institutions, increasing transparency to hold them accountable to parents and students." The governor's office did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment about Kent's accomplishments in the state. Regardless of his future, Kent is already notable for signing up for a top job at an agency the president doesn't want to exist. Chris Quintana is an investigative reporter at USA TODAY. He can be reached at cquintana@ or via Signal at 202-308-9021. He is on X at @CQuintanaDC
