BRUTAL: Rightwinger gets OWNED at live debate

0:00 I'm joined now by political commentator Harry Sisson,

0:02 and Harry, thanks for joining me.

0:03 Thank you, Brian, for having me.

0:05 So, I want to throw right now to a clip of a recent

0:07 debate that you had with someone from the right-wing site The Daily Wire.

0:12 In February of 2025,

0:13 Donald Trump had a plus 10 approval rating with all people under the age of 30.

0:16 It's now negative [music] 40, a 50-point swing.

0:19 So, this idea that young men are

0:21 seeking [music] God and conservatism and traditional

0:23 values and things like that is just not borne out in the data.

0:26 Trump lied [music] about this stuff.

0:27 He told every young person, if you voted for him or not,

0:30 that he was going to eliminate inflation on day one.

0:31 It's a direct quote.

0:32 I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately.

0:35 He said gas prices would be below $2.

0:37 The American dream is coming back.

0:38 [music] You can buy a home.

0:39 Bring down interest rates and lower the cost of energy.

0:42 And none of that has happened.

0:43 I don't think anybody can [music]

0:45 say that they feel better about their housing prospects today

0:47 than they did a year ago or a year before that.

0:50 So, that was you, obviously,

0:50 debating this this right-wing commentator, but it was on television.

0:54 Can you talk a little bit about what she was seeking to do

0:57 and and kind of the fallout for Republicans in the aftermath of that debate?

1:02 Yeah, well, her main goal, seemingly,

1:05 was to inject this idea that it's God and tradition that will solve everything.

1:10 That if we just bring God back into the classroom,

1:13 if women stay in traditional values,

1:15 men stay in traditional roles and values, then everything will be solved.

1:18 And I think I think things are a little bit more nuanced than that.

1:21 I think we have to have real policy

1:23 solutions to real issues that are affecting everyday Americans.

1:26 And after that interview,

1:27 not only did I have Republicans who were in attendance come

1:30 up to me and said that they thought I did better, which I was really shocked by.

1:33 These were even Turning Point USA people

1:36 who were on campus at this that's chapter.

1:38 But, in the aftermath of that, we've we're

1:40 now learning that The Daily Wire has fired,

1:43 I mean, thousands of people, I imagine, at least hundreds of people.

1:46 There's rumors that it's around 50 to 60%,

1:48 but a large portion of their workforce.

1:51 And, you know, if there's a connection, I don't know,

1:53 but that, you know, took place in the days after.

1:55 Harry responsible for the downfall of The Daily Wire.

1:59 Okay, but I I think this is actually conversation because um look,

2:04 in the lead-up to the 2024 election,

2:06 I've spent a good deal of my political career

2:10 online advocating for the left to embrace independent media.

2:15 I think that we're finally at a point

2:16 where the left is embracing independent media.

2:19 Um, you know, as we see the left continue to grow more and more,

2:25 what have you seen in terms of what people are telling you as we

2:29 kind of fill this void that was otherwise completely dominated by the right?

2:35 Well, it's it's been a really interesting time since the 2024 election.

2:39 We're seeing this data that more and more

2:40 young people are getting their news from social media,

2:43 and this is an anecdotal experience,

2:45 but from the people I've talked to in my life,

2:47 my friends who go to college or out of college are not all that political.

2:52 They're now telling me that they're seeing more left-wing

2:55 voices on their for you pages or hitting their algorithms.

2:58 And so, I think that's a testament to people getting involved,

3:01 using their voices to speak up.

3:02 You don't need a fancy studio.

3:04 You can be a single mother who's struggling speaking about your issues

3:06 and have people hear you and make and have that make an impact.

3:10 But, I think that's a testament to how Democrats are really

3:12 taking steps and have taken steps since 2024 to dominate online,

3:16 to catch up and fight back against these Republicans who have

3:19 an endless stream of miss and disinformation

3:22 hitting our algorithms every single day.

3:24 What do you have in terms of either

3:26 anecdotal data or just metrics more broadly that might

3:29 lend credence to this idea that that that we're

3:31 getting a better foothold in the independent media space?

3:35 Like, I know that when I when I hear from people who, for example, you know,

3:39 I I I've I've obviously have a lot

3:41 of people who watch my videos on a daily basis,

3:43 but I'll get lots of emails from people who say, like,

3:45 "Look, I voted for Trump, but I started watching your videos.

3:48 I I voted Republican my whole life,

3:49 but I started watching your videos." Like, even those little anecdotal you know,

3:55 like moments, those I think look,

3:58 that that's a large part of of why I do what I do.

4:01 So, do you have anything that that you can point to, you know,

4:05 in from from your vantage that might suggest a little bit of the tide shifting?

4:11 Yeah, I mean, I I think from that clip, you know,

4:13 that data from that CNN poll of Trump having this 50-point

4:16 swing to the negative among young voters speaks for itself.

4:20 But, at least in my personal life, I'll tell brief story.

4:22 I have a friend who identifies as a lifelong libertarian.

4:27 Now, that's a you know, it's its own beast.

4:29 A libertarian versus Republican, it's its own thing.

4:31 Yeah.

4:31 Normally, he'd vote for Republicans, but I've known him my entire life,

4:34 and we're still friends, and he cares about human rights and things like that.

4:36 So, there's no there's not nothing really separating us for the most part.

4:40 But, since the 2024 election,

4:42 he has told me that he has seen me on his for you page a number of times,

4:46 which he never had been before,

4:48 and he's actually seen just more left-wing people in general.

4:51 He follows you now, Mr.

4:52 Brian Tyler Cohen.

4:53 He follows a number of left-wing creators and is now a registered Democrat.

4:57 And that's since 2024 because Donald Trump

4:59 and the Republicans he might have voted for might

5:01 have might have flirted with voting for have

5:03 betrayed him and the things he had in mind,

5:06 the goals he had in mind, and the thing he was promised with his vote.

5:09 And so, that, you know, is not data-backed, it's not a study, but for me,

5:13 the fact that this person in my life who

5:15 was on conservative social media for a long time,

5:17 which I think influences views a lot, is now telling me that me, you,

5:21 other huge left-wing creators are showing up for him is a pretty big deal.

5:26 You know, what was interesting is like, when I was growing up, I'm I'm 37.

5:31 So, I was in college I was in college like I don't know,

5:36 more than 15 years ago, right?

5:37 And Obama was the president then, and and I went to Lehigh University,

5:42 which was it was a pretty pretty like upper-middle-class to upper-class college.

5:47 I think it was like I was like one of 10 kids,

5:49 it felt like, who was on financial aid because my parents are nurses.

5:53 But, even on that campus,

5:54 where there's so there were so many wealthy kids who came from wealthy families,

5:58 who came from like Westchester, New York, and and what have you,

6:01 you could not find someone who didn't vote for Obama.

6:05 Like, that was something like everything else notwithstanding,

6:08 all the differences you know, otherwise,

6:11 like everybody it was it was political suicide, cultural suicide,

6:16 to not have have been a fan of Barack Obama.

6:19 Since then, that's changed, obviously, because Democrats have, you know,

6:22 all of the people who were young and cool when

6:24 I was when I was younger are still in office, and now they're old and less cool.

6:28 And and so, I'm I'm wondering like the shift happened so quickly,

6:33 if you've seen any shift back among like

6:37 your age cohort given the fact that, you know,

6:41 we got to the point where it kind of like flipped.

6:43 Like, Republicans Republicans had dominated culture in a way that would

6:46 would have been completely unheard of when I was in school.

6:50 If if you're seeing evidence of that coming back around.

6:54 Yeah, well, I I think in 2020, and this really pains me to say,

6:59 it was like culturally cool to support Donald Trump.

7:02 And that sucks.

7:03 That's a really unfortunate feeling, but you just saw on your social media

7:06 feeds like meme pages or influencers or people

7:10 that maybe normally got their news from or just

7:13 were entertained by were supporting Donald Trump,

7:15 were streaming with him at Mar-a-Lago.

7:17 And that was really depressing.

7:18 But, now, I think that culture is shifting,

7:21 and what Republicans didn't understand is that culture can shift rapidly.

7:24 It can happen overnight, and it really has.

7:27 I mean, people are making fun of Donald Trump for his health decline,

7:30 people are poking at him over the Epstein files,

7:33 his long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and that relationship there.

7:36 And you're just seeing it everywhere.

7:38 And so, I think that now, as we're getting closer to the midterms,

7:41 as 2028 is far away, but kind of feels like it's right around the corner,

7:45 especially with campaigns ramping up,

7:47 you will see more and more beneficiaries of that culture shift,

7:51 and Donald Trump's approval numbers will continue to go down and down.

7:54 Talk about like your embrace of of this this debate culture because,

7:59 you know, it's kind of shifted into that from where I was.

8:01 I mean, I remember when I first came onto YouTube,

8:04 this was probably in late 2018, early 2019,

8:08 there was so little video content altogether that it was like all I

8:12 saw on on YouTube was like The Young Turks, and that was it.

8:16 And the reason that I came onto YouTube

8:17 in the first place was I was getting served right-wing content,

8:20 and there was no response to it.

8:21 Um, and so, I just decided to like put out factual information,

8:24 but there was no there were no debates back then or anything like that.

8:27 And now it's kind of shifted into that.

8:30 And even even in my own content, the the stuff that I enjoy,

8:33 and frankly, the stuff that does well, is is debate stuff.

8:36 It's why I go on Piers Morgan's show.

8:38 It's why I subject myself to like Katie Pavlich's show on NewsNation.

8:43 Um, even though it sends my blood pressure surging,

8:45 like, it it it it gives an opportunity Look,

8:48 it gives an opportunity to to to make the case in in you know,

8:53 look, I don't have to extol the virtues of of debate,

8:56 but like, it gives you the opportunity to make the case.

8:58 It it performs better online.

9:00 And so, talk a little bit about um how you've embraced that aspect of things.

9:05 Yeah, and I I actually saw the clip that you

9:06 posted on Katie's show yesterday about the voting rights.

9:09 I mean, you know, God love you.

9:11 You're You're You're You're doing some good some good work.

9:14 Um Yeah, I mean, you know, I think the the rise in in in the debate culture

9:19 in politics is both a good thing and a bad thing.

9:21 Bad thing because it's really been weaponized by Republicans.

9:24 I mean, I'm thinking of like the Ben Shapiro's

9:25 and the Charlie Kirks of the world who go to college campuses,

9:28 they find somebody who's passionate,

9:30 but maybe not as experienced in debate, and they dunk on them,

9:33 and they get this viral clip, and it makes the left seem bad.

9:36 But, on the positive side, I mean, you're right,

9:38 it is an opportunity to make the case.

9:40 It's an opportunity to you know,

9:42 talk about the ideals and values and morals that we have.

9:45 And I know for a fact that the people on our side

9:48 can do it way better than the people on their side.

9:50 And that's why these right-wing figures run from top left-wing creators.

9:54 They don't want to debate left-wing creators because when they

9:56 get in that boxing ring it goes badly every time.

9:59 Shout out Adam Mockler, you know,

10:01 with Scott Jennings the other day who he had a meltdown on air

10:04 and things like that happens all the time and I've experienced it.

10:06 I mean, you know, I debated Michael Knowles

10:08 in person during this thing he had called

10:10 bar fight where it's quite literally a debate

10:12 hosted in a bar with a bunch of Republicans.

10:14 He was not happy with it.

10:15 The Republicans in the crowd were not happy with it.

10:17 fills the crowd with Republicans?

10:19 Oh, yeah.

10:20 Yes.

10:20 Yes.

10:21 he like [laughter] just Okay.

10:23 Yeah, that that makes sense.

10:24 Go on.

10:25 When I walked in everybody booed me.

10:27 I'm like, okay, so I know what's I know what's taking place here.

10:29 I know what's happening.

10:30 neutral crowd.

10:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's great.

10:32 It's great.

10:33 Definitely not making it biased or anything.

10:34 But regardless, I mean, that's what happens when I think these these big

10:38 Republican guys who speak very fast and they, you know,

10:42 appear to be know-it-alls when they get into a forum

10:45 of debate with anybody who knows a thing or two, it never goes well for them.

10:49 They can't defend this presidency.

10:50 They can't defend their views.

10:51 Has there been anybody that you've wanted to debate who's ducked you?

10:57 [laughter] Oh, man.

10:58 Time to now is the perfect opportunity to air him out.

11:03 [laughter] Okay, I'm going I'm going to air this out because it's over now,

11:07 but Olivia's like say it.

11:09 I'm going to air this out now because it's over,

11:12 but the first person that the CBS debate was meant to be

11:16 with dropped out and that person was Nalin Haley, Nikki Haley's son.

11:22 [snorts] He approached and he was informed that I'd be the liberal

11:24 person debating him and then after that he didn't want any part

11:28 of it and he dropped out immediately and I was I

11:31 was told not to say anything about this, but I don't care.

11:33 It's over now.

11:34 Yeah, it's over now.

11:36 If you could debate somebody who would you debate?

11:40 [sighs] Oh, man.

11:41 That's a great question.

11:42 I think I want to do Dave Rubin again and he's

11:45 such a niche pick for me and the reason why is because

11:47 I was on a Piers Morgan panel with him and I happened

11:50 to bring up the fact that he made a lot of money

11:53 from Russia through that whole planet media thing and I I think

11:56 I called him Russian Rubin and he he didn't like that a little

12:00 bit and he said he would never do a panel with me

12:02 ever again and ever since then he has not done that.

12:04 Yeah.

12:04 Yeah.

12:06 I I I mentioned something similar to to Benny

12:09 Johnson and we were on what show were we on?

12:13 I think it might have been Chris Cuomo's show

12:15 and on the break he he threatened to sue both

12:20 me and and the show like the producers if

12:24 they didn't if they didn't like come to his aid.

12:26 So you know, a little bit of a little bit of a sore spot there.

12:31 Yeah, stand up guy it sounds like.

12:32 Throw Benny Johnson in the mix.

12:33 I'd like to debate him, too.

12:34 He's just the worst.

12:36 I I despise that man.

12:37 So I I'm in that boat with you,

12:39 I think, you know, just dishonesty across the board.

12:41 Is there some concern that you have about like where

12:45 do you draw the line between platforming somebody who is just

12:48 going to who is only acting in bad faith and frankly

12:51 I think that Dave Rubin does fall into that category.

12:53 Like I don't think that he is a good faith actor.

12:56 I think he's I think he's just saying what he needs to say

12:59 and he knows that it's complete but he wants to build his profile.

13:02 Like where do you draw the line between between platforming

13:06 and I say this like in in air quotes, right?

13:08 Platforming somebody who who may be doing it just for, you know,

13:12 for for bad faith reasons versus like a a good

13:16 faith dialogue with somebody who fundamentally disagrees with you.

13:19 And look, it it might be that we're in an era now where where you just take

13:23 on anybody because because like anybody who's going

13:26 to come forward in this space and defend this administration,

13:29 whether it's somebody who's acting in in good faith or bad faith,

13:32 it's still the opportunity for for you to make your point.

13:35 So so I'm not I'm not making you know, a determination one way or the other.

13:38 I'm just I'm just curious where you stand on that.

13:41 Yeah, I mean, I think my general rule is I like to go anywhere and everywhere.

13:45 If I can make the case to a new audience, I want to do that.

13:49 There of course is a line and it's kind of hard to draw the line.

13:51 It's arbitrary.

13:52 I think it's almost circumstantial person by person.

13:54 So for example, I wouldn't debate Nick

13:56 Fuentes not only because that's bad faith,

13:59 but it's just not going to be productive and I think

14:01 his harmful views are going to get more attention than they deserve,

14:04 but someone like Dave Rubin,

14:05 I know for a fact that that guy not only sucks at debating,

14:09 but I think it would go very poorly for him

14:11 just broadly and if I can get a clip out

14:13 of that and amplify that beyond what the original interview

14:17 was of making him and his not not necessarily the person,

14:20 but his views look stupid,

14:21 then I'm going to take that opportunity every single time.

14:23 I'm just I'm so in the boat of I just

14:25 want to beat these Republicans in every form of media.

14:30 Last question here, Harry.

14:32 You know, a few months ago Trump had posted like some AI slop of of you.

14:38 I think he was like dumping on a bunch of protesters.

14:41 You were among them.

14:42 What does what does what what is like

14:45 the next 24 hours of your life look like after

14:49 the president of the United States with the biggest

14:51 platform on earth like posts AI slop memes of you?

14:57 [laughter] That was that was a really it was a really weird 24 hours.

15:01 I I was watching I think it was Alabama-Tennessee the college football game

15:05 and the video dropped and almost immediately

15:08 my phone blew up with people texting me like,

15:10 hey, you're in this video and I didn't believe it.

15:12 So when I clicked on the link and I saw it, I was like, wow, okay.

15:14 So this is crazy.

15:17 It really consisted of like crafting response.

15:19 Like what's the video response to what Donald

15:21 Trump did here and then also it was,

15:23 you know, my my inbox was inundated with media requests.

15:27 Like, hey, how does it feel that you got on?

15:29 And I'm like, that's just not a question I

15:30 ever thought I'd be answering about my political endeavors.

15:35 So it was a lot of that and it it was just

15:37 crazy and a lot of people I got a lot of people

15:39 supporting me as a result and asking me am I safe

15:41 because they were like concerned it was a target on my back.

15:44 Yeah.

15:44 It was just a wild time, put it mildly.

15:47 And what and what was the response after that?

15:50 I posted I posted on YouTube and TikTok and it was just kind of like,

15:54 you know, this is obviously absurd, but this is broadly a distraction

15:59 from what Trump doesn't want you talking about,

16:01 you know, with the Epstein files, with the economy sucking at the time.

16:04 Iran Iran hadn't happened at the time yet.

16:06 So it was largely focusing on those things and I wanted

16:08 to take that opportunity to of course talk about what happened to me,

16:12 but really put a magnifying glass on the failures of the administration.

16:15 Yeah, and that has been a a recurring theme since then and frankly I think a lot

16:20 of the the potency of the messaging surrounding his failures

16:23 is owed in large part to people like you.

16:26 So thanks for the work you're doing, Harry and thanks for taking the time today.

16:30 Highly recommend for anybody who's watching if you're not yet following Harry,

16:33 find him on all of his on on all of the socials, Harry Sisson.

16:37 Harry, thanks again for taking the time.

16:39 Thank you, Brian.

16:43 [music]