Tim Pool, Phony Liberal
Journalist and YouTube personality Tim Pool rose to notoriety for live-streaming the Occupy Wall Street protest in 2011 and later investigating the supposed existence of “no-go” zones in Sweden in 2017. But Pool’s reporting has shifted in recent years. He rarely posts street footage now, preferring to offer commentary on various news stories in videos released each afternoon. He describes himself as “center-left” and, usually in brief asides, notes his dislike for Donald Trump. But Pool’s insistence that he supports liberal policy doesn’t match with the rest of his content. A quick scroll through his last 100 videos shows a preoccupation with criticizing the left. For example, there are around ten videos critical of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There are zero videos critical of Donald Trump.
Isn’t a real liberal allowed to critique the left? Of course! But one would expect some criticism of the Trump administration or Republicans in congress. I decided to see what Tim Pool thought of the Trump administration’s child separation policy — a story that brought the left together in condemnation. The only video I found on his main channel was a story complaining about media coverage. Not a good sign. Maybe Pool was covering what he thought were more important events? Here are some of the videos he published while the family separation policy was in the headlines:
- “Why Affirmative Action is Racist”
- “Conservatives Are Winning the Red Hen Battle”
- “Why Liberals #WalkAway From The Democratic Party”
- “Are You Ready for the Second American Civil War?”
Again, not good. But maybe Pool just thinks that child separation is good policy. Perhaps it’s no big deal to him that the government cannot reunite the families of asylum seekers. After all, he could be a liberal with slightly different priorities.
Priorities such as:
- Stating without evidence that Seth Rich is “55–67%” likely to be behind the 2016 leak of DNC emails.
- Claiming it’s unfair to call British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson “far-right” because he is actually a centrist.
- Claiming that the left has “become psychotic.”
- Accusing media outlets of lying when they claim that people crossing the border are seeking asylum.
- Praising the pro-Trump “NPC” meme.
- Supporting voter ID measures because “Who doesn’t have an ID?”
- Accusing the mainstream press of lying about Trump and Fox.
- Claiming that there is no merit to any claims against Bret Kavanaugh.
- Claiming that he is “pro-choice,” but only if there are “life-threatening” issues for the mother.
I don’t know how one could consider Tim Pool a liberal after looking through his content and listening to his views. His audience seems to agree. They are almost exclusively people who identify as conservatives. Some of them write interesting comments:
Now, I don’t blame Tim Pool for the violent fantasies of his viewers. And I will note that there were many responses to that comment that argued strongly against the use of violence. Then again, there were 200+ people who thought the comment was good. And that’s the issue: his content attracts the right and even the far right. It attracts them because that’s what it is designed to do. Tim Pool claims to be an “independent” journalist, but he is dependent on views and donations. Consciously or not, this dependence drives his content.
If Tim Pool is, in his heart, a liberal, then he is a piss-poor one. To Pool, injustice is best exemplified by Patreon banning the tedious midwit provocateur “Sargon of Akkad.” Children of asylum seekers being unnecessarily taken from their parents? Not worth a mention.
