SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 | OPINION | By Fiona Frankel
Disclaimer: This story was written prior to the events of Sept. 10. The Catalyst has since covered Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Flat Earthers versus Scientists. Charlie Kirk versus 25 Woke Students. One Woke Teen versus Twenty Trump Supporters. Ben Shapiro versus 25 Kamala Voters. These long-form videos are among the most popular for Jubilee Media, a Los Angeles, Calif., based company operating the Jubilee YouTube channel. Participants are selected through a careful casting process, curated by directors and paid for their time and participation. Most often, those in the majority opinion sit in a circle, surrounding the dissenter as they approach one by one to engage in short debates on a given issue. The debate videos usually exceed an hour in running time and are often inflammatory and argumentative.
Mehdi Hasan, a British-American journalist and frequent critic of President Trump, was featured in a video titled “One Progressive vs. 20 Far-Right Conservatives” this past July, in which he debated issues including Trump’s lack of constitutionality, the national benefits of immigration, ethnic cleansing in Palestine and the validity of birthright citizenship. It is unsurprising that the video has amassed over 11 million views since it was released less than two months ago. Spanning over an hour and a half, it was filled with reactionary comments and perspectives: one conservative openly admits to being a fascist, receiving applause from the surrounding spectators, while another claims that “whites are Native Americans.” One participant proudly cited the work of Nazi theoretician Carl Schmitt, followed by Hasan being told to “get the hell out” for being an immigrant.
Jason Lee, Jubilee’s founder, cited his goal for the platform as changing the narrative around disagreement, exposing people to different backgrounds and identities and expanding points of view, particularly for younger generations. Yet since its inception in 2010, Jubilee has transitioned from a non-profit company to a for-profit corporation, dependent upon views, investments and engagement. With this adjustment emerged content arguably antithetical to Lee’s goal. Jubilee’s most popular videos feature partisan extremes, taking stances that are largely unrepresentative of the parties they claim to speak for. There is no fact-checking, and the majority of debates devolve into subjective arguments that result in increased polarization, cynicism, and, as Hasan experienced, blatant racism and bigotry.
Understandably, Jubilee has leaned into its eye-catching content. In an era of decreased attention spans and political division, the profitability of political clickbait is increasing. During the past election cycle, social media was flooded with clips of Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating their pets, Harris’ coconut tree soundbite and Trump and Biden’s argument over their respective golf handicaps. Little coverage focused on actual policy or campaign promises.
Hasan’s appearance was hardly anomalous in the current trend of political dialogue. Last spring, California Governor Gavin Newsom sat down for a conversation with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and received widespread bipartisan praise for doing so. In contrast to Jubilee, Newsom and Kirk’s dialogue was civil and thoughtful. At times, the two voiced admiration for one another and even reached consensus on issues, including the supposed unfairness of transgender women participating in female sports, opposition to pronoun introductions, and criticism of cancel culture.
But despite Newsom and Kirk’s positive exchange, the same cannot be said for the majority of those Kirk encounters. The far-right-wing personality has a history of racist, sexist and overall discriminatory positions and comments, from deeming white privilege as a racist falsehood to voicing opposition to abortion even in cases of rape. Kirk has described the Great Replacement theory as a reality, called Martin Luther King Jr. “awful” and critiqued birth control as making women angry and bitter.
It is understandable that Newsom feels comfortable conversing with Kirk and similarly controversial figures, including Sean Hannity in 2023, Bill Maher in 2025 and most recently Steve Bannon. His subjection to their verbal assaults and vitriol is limited to his political affiliation and actions. His identity is not under attack, and he is able to amicably debate without falling victim to discrimination.
Bipartisan collaboration is imperative in today’s polarized climate, particularly between lawmakers. In an interview with Ezra Klein, Delaware Representative Sarah McBride stressed the importance of crossing political boundaries and ideological differences to reach a consensus that will primarily benefit constituents. As the only openly transgender member of Congress, Representative McBride’s freshman year in the House included being targeted by an anti-trans bathroom bill specifically within the Capitol, proposed by South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace. Yet her policy goals focus on the lives of Delawareans, her platform scarcely mentions her own trans identity, and she describes herself as having a “serious willingness” to work across the aisle.
In addition to the importance of bipartisan collaboration between lawmakers, it is also beneficial that politicians engage with media beyond official news outlets. In 2020, as part of a Get Out the Vote effort, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez livestreamed a game of Among Us on Twitch, garnering over 400,000 viewers. President Trump partnered with the YouTube-famous Paul brothers during his 2024 presidential campaign, drawing in large numbers of young men. In the month before the election, Kamala Harris sat down for an interview with Call Her Daddy, one of Spotify’s most listened-to podcasts. There has been a call across the Democratic Party to embrace a liberal version of Joe Rogan, with some pointing to leftist commentator Hasan Piker as a viable candidate.
These media appearances are critical for reaching young voters. Still, there is a fundamental difference between McBride’s approach and the willingness that predominantly straight, white, cisgender politicians like Newsom have to engage in conversations with bigoted, far-right figures. As we stray from Representative McBride’s method towards clickbait-able moments from short-form content, there is a lesser appeal for real legislative bipartisanship. Crossing political lines is a commendable act, but it does not necessitate increasing the platform of consistently prejudiced actors. It is this very complicity that normalizes the popular YouTube account, NELK Boys, hosting Benjamin Netanyahu for a sit-down conversation just last month (in which one of the interviewers responds to Netanyahu’s preference of Burger King over McDonald’s as his “worst take”).
Collaboration across party lines is essential to bridging the political polarization gap growing in this country today. But there must be an incentive, one that Jubilee and similar platforms do not provide, to create spaces for healthy, productive discourse rather than situations that encourage attacks, trolling, or the platform of deeply flawed and offensive perspectives.