### Author:  [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/621 "2024-12-23T02:40:26Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#):
>
> I have no desire to entertain any change to the law that would get Elon Musk on a ballot and so I just have no interest in this man. Sorry.
You mean Prez-elect Musk.
---
### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2024, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/622 "2024-12-29T10:37:06Z")
Cenk was interviewed by Francesca fiorentini, a (rather good) progressive commentator and comedian.
TBH when I saw this come up on my feed I was expecting a softball rehabilitation interview…not because that’s how Fran rolls, but because otherwise why is he doing the interview? But no, she is very direct and cutting throughout.
> **[Francesca's HEATED Debate With Cenk Uygur On Strategy Under Trump](https://www.youtube.com/live/2rGFOTHoZ2Q?si=kkqrTvwPAKKS2j4M%2F)**
>
> Woooee! Things get spicy between Francesca and Cenk as they discuss Cenk's recent tour of right wing media outlets, left versus right populism, establishment...
---
### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/623 "2024-12-29T16:12:50Z")
I’ve watched the interview through fully now. I actually think Cenk acquits himself pretty well.
Definitely some things I disagree with, but really not anything that major given that the interview was based around the most egregious clips of Cenk simping for the RW and I just don’t see them as that bad.
I’m still not going back to TYT though – I have no obligation to watch people try to broaden their audience and find common ground.
---
### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/624 "2024-12-29T16:48:40Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#):
>
> Poor Cenk, jumping on the rightwing influencer grift train after the Russian money has dried up.
The basic 8-step script:
1. Finding middle ground is the best way to counter the right wing.
2. Hey man, I’m just an independent-minded freethinker who’s trying to surface new truths.
3. Everybody agrees war is bad, right? Surely we can all oppose war.
4. Specifically, Ukraine should really stop contesting the war. Then we wouldn’t have war anymore.
5. Speaking of culture wars, does anybody else feel like the transes are getting a little uppity?
6. I didn’t leave the left, they left me.
7. Biden’s warmongering in Ukraine is exactly why it’s so hard for ordinary Americans to cash a ruble-denominated podcast-payola check nowadays, which really hurts because eggs are $37 a dozen.
8. I’m still an independent freethinker who questions everything. This has led me to believe that liberals ask too many questions about common-sense right-wing talking points.
---
### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/625 "2024-12-29T17:03:40Z")
What worries me specifically about Cenk is one of the issues that was very heatedly debated early in the thread. And it may be _one_ of the reasons he’s gone darkside.
Cenk was working the “so what if I’m not a _natural born_ US citizen, why should that matter, oh wait, it _doesn’t_ for _reasons_”.
Since he got very little support from any group on pushing that philosophy, no reason to not join the right in tearing all that down, and of course, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Elon echoing it (with a MUCH bigger megaphone) in future years.
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/626 "2025-01-31T18:45:50Z")
Cenk couldn’t get into the White House as president, but he sure is angling for that press pass Trump offered to alternative media:
>
Seems like Controlled Opposition might be Cenk’s true calling.
“It’s very unlikely that Elizabeth Proctor is a witch. But it turns out Abigail was NOT crazy for saying that she might have sold her soul to the Devil in exchange for magical powers. Watch @TheYoungTurks for the details.”
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/627 "2025-01-31T18:56:54Z")
So many seedy characters pushing and shoving for their place at the Trump-trough.
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> I wouldn’t be surprised to see Elon echoing it (with a MUCH bigger megaphone) in future years.
Would that be a MAGA-phone?
---
### Author:  [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/628 "2025-01-31T19:02:26Z")
Bill Maher must be pissed that someone is stealing his thunder.
But then again there’s plenty of room in the anti-woke slop trough.
---
### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/629 "2025-01-31T19:49:53Z")
I’m not sure if I’ve already said in this thread, but I’m willing to say I was 100% wrong about cenk. I thought he was a man of principle and I thought his forcefulness and directness would be an asset for a democratic party that is constantly getting steamrolled.
I still think we need powerful voices, but I see now that cenk was just about the theater.
I don’t think he and Ana were ever 100% grifters, but I think they did get envious of former TYT employees now earning more than them.
And they probably have some exposure to the “far left”, which I put in scarequotes because Ive never seen it myself. I believe some of their anecdotes about extreme positions, but I think they fail to realise it’s because they (did) run a progressive channel, rather than this being something that most of us actually see in normal life.
---
### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/630 "2025-01-31T20:01:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> So many seedy characters pushing and shoving for their place at the Trump-trough.
>
> > [@ParallelLines](#):
> >
> > I wouldn’t be surprised to see Elon echoing it (with a MUCH bigger megaphone) in future years.
>
> Would that be a MAGA-phone?
Heh, but honestly, No.
I’m pretty sure Elon hates MAGA and Trump as stupid but useful idiots. His views from 40k feet of course are equally (heck, possibly _more_) racist and evil, but he just wants the power to tell everyone else to get fucked/imprisoned/dead if they cross or question him. Basically, he doesn’t want to _supplant_ Trump as the ruler of a political party, he thinks he should have the power Trump constantly seems to think he has (in the absence of any political or governmental pushback).
He’ll use MAGA, if Trump doesn’t purge him first, but even more than Trump, he wants to be God-Emperor of the World. Trump is at least more venal, but still thoroughly evil. Elon though…
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/631 "2025-01-31T20:05:14Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> His views from 40k feet
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> he wants to be God-Emperor of the World.
I see what you did there - and Elon would approve:
> **[Elon Musk announces third child with Grimes, reveals baby's unique name](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/09/11/elon-musk-third-child-with-grimes/70822193007/)**
>
> Elon Musk and Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, welcomed their first child together in 2020. The newly revealed addition marks baby No. 3.
(The preview doesn’t show it, but the baby’s name is Tau Techno Mechanicus. I wish I was kidding…)
By the way, which Chaos God does Musk serve?
---
### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/632 "2025-01-31T20:09:59Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> > The plane crash in DC very likely had nothing to do with DEI. But it turns out Trump was NOT crazy for saying the FAA might have used discriminatory practices against non-minorities that did lower standards.
Cenk is so full of crap. There is a shortage of air traffic controllers because the standards are so high.
> **[Is there an air traffic controller shortage? Deadly collision raises concerns](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/is-there-an-air-traffic-controller-shortage-deadly-midair-collision-raises-concerns/3831276/)**
>
> Amid increased concerns about aviation safety, here's how many air traffic controllers there are in the U.S., and how the hiring process works.
> [The New York Times reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/business/air-traffic-controllers-safety.html) in 2023 that nearly all air traffic control sites in the country were understaffed. The shortage, per the report, forced many controllers to work 10-hour days, six days a week, resulting in an exhausted work force susceptible to making dangerous mistakes.
A former FAA administrator talks about how difficult the standards are.
[https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/northeast/diversity-atc-hiring-standards-faa/](https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/northeast/diversity-atc-hiring-standards-faa/)
> “There are very strict requirements for air traffic control. It’s a two-year process. It’s intensive. It’s a lot of training,” Randy Babbitt, who served as the 16th administrator of the FAA, told NewsNation.
>
> “You don’t just go from the end of your two years to Chicago-O’Hare,” he said.
Cenk is just another MAGA-enabling shill out for himself. I thought he was an unprincipled weasel a year ago, and he has only confirmed that impression since then.
> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> How about evidence that he has no true political ideology and his goal is to make money?
>
> [The Ideological Failure Of The Young Turks | by Robbie Jaeger | Medium](https://medium.com/@RobletoFire/the-ideological-failure-of-the-young-turks-90c15ddde408)
>
> I also think it’s no coincidence that he announced his run for president the same month he put out a new book.
>
> I don’t buy the idea that he is trying to change anything but the size of his audience.
---
### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/633 "2025-01-31T20:21:04Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> By the way, which Chaos God does Musk serve?
I’m sure he _thinks_ he serves Tzeentch, but his self-love, and love of excess makes me think he’s a deluded Slaanesh cultist who envies the followers of Tzeentch.
(these are all Warhammer 40k references, and it’s near-certain that so is the name of the child @Babale cited, for more)
> **[Chaos Gods](https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos_Gods)**
>
> The Chaos Gods, also called the Dark Gods or the Ruinous Powers, are powerful, self-aware entities comprised solely of psychic energy who inhabit and control the psychic dimension that underlies all physical reality known as the Immaterium or the...
Semi-seriously, and back to the thread, all the current flavors of the American RWNJ (Maga, Qanon, “Christian” Nationalists, etc) are _very_ reminiscent of the Chaos gods. Seductive to those who feel left out of the “current” world, offering power in exchange for passion, working as much against each other as for each other, and ultimately self-destructive (along with the rest of us!) if they actually ever succeed.
Cenk is just chasing whichever patron will give him the most. He’d make a _better_ Tzeentch follower than Elon, although that’s not saying much.
---
### Author:  [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/634 "2025-01-31T20:37:10Z")
As a devoted follower of Chaos myself, I don’t think the Ruinous Powers would want anything to do with him (Musk).
As a hater of elves, he gives me more of a Drukhari vibe; or maybe a devotee of Cegorach.
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/635 "2025-07-25T15:57:18Z")
Well, it’s finally happening: the Horseshoe is Closing. Ana Kasparian is going on Tucker Carlson to talk about Israel and Epstein, in one hour.
---
### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/636 "2025-07-25T16:22:31Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> Ana Kasparian is going on Tucker Carlson to talk about Israel and Epstein, in one hour.
Her shift to the right just “coincidentally” happened as Trump was getting back into power. It started before he actually got elected, but not long before.
> **[Progressive journalist unleashes on liberal intolerance that drove her away...](https://www.foxnews.com/media/progressive-journalist-unleashes-liberal-intolerance-drove-her-away-from-democratic-party)**
>
> Progressive journalist Ana Kasparian described her evolution away from the Democratic Party, after being lectured by the left following a sexual assault.
She made up some story about being persecuted by liberals years before to explain it.
I said back in January 2024 that Uygur is nothing more than an opportunist.
> [@Cenk Uygur running for Pres](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/598):
>
> How about evidence that he has no true political ideology and his goal is to make money? I also think it’s no coincidence that he announced his run for president the same month he put out a new book. I don’t buy the idea that he is trying to change anything but the size of his audience.
Same with this lady.
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/637 "2025-09-10T16:56:01Z")
I’m not going to link the video, because I don’t want to give them any views. But Cenk put out a video titled “Tucker Carlson is demanding answers for 9/11” ☠
I guess after almost 24 years it’s not “too soon” to pander to 9/11 Trutherists anymore?
Oh, and the title archived on Google search is “Tucker Carlson’s 9/11 Documentary Is Making People NERVOUS”. I’m not sure if there’s a way to have different titles on the page vs on Google search, or if this means the title was changed at one point, or what; but this alternate title even more clearly shows how they’re pandering to Truthers.
---
### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/638 "2025-09-17T23:26:44Z")
(Aside)
> [@Babale](#):
>
> Oh, and the title archived on Google search is “Tucker Carlson’s 9/11 Documentary Is Making People NERVOUS”.
Don’t you just love how you can tell what kind of work it is from the capitalizations?
(/aside)
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/639 "2025-11-22T13:39:21Z")
Cenk is _really_ upset about his favorite Horseshoe partner leaving Congress…
>
---
### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cenk-uygur-running-for-pres/991927/640 "2025-11-22T13:41:43Z")
There are many ways to describe MTG, but “one of the very few honest people in Congress” is among the most delusional.
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