YouTuber pundit Carl Benjamin, known online as “Sargon of Akkad,” Infowars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson and Scottish “Nazi pug” comedian Mark Meechan have announced that they are joining the right-wing populist and anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP), demolishing their claims that they are merely “classical liberals.”
Benjamin, Watson, and most recently Meechan, have become popular voices online for right-wing media audiences on YouTube in North America and Europe. For years, Benjamin and Watson have used their supposed “classical liberal” political orientation to present right-wing ideologies favorably and to incessantly bash caricatures of “social justice warrior” figures. Now these figures are joining an explicitly right-wing political party that has been rapidly crumbling since its political high point in 2015.
The first of the trio to join UKIP was Meechan, who is a Scottish comedian who was adopted by right-wing audiences when he stood trial for distributing a video in which a pug does a Nazi salute after Meechan prompts it with phrases like “Sieg Heil.” Meechan was supported in court by anti-Muslim activist Stephen “Tommy Robinson” Yaxley, but was ultimately fined £800 for the video.
On June 15, Meechan posted a tweet promising to join UKIP if he got 10,000 retweets, following up on his prior consideration of joining the party earlier this month:
If this gets 10k retweets, I will join @UKIP .
I’m not joking, this is not a meme. I’m being completely serious.
— Count Dankula??????? (@CountDankulaTV) June 15, 2018
He eventually received that support and followed through on his promise to join the party. Shortly after, he released a promotional video for UKIP, which he described as “the thinking man’s political party.”
“As a free-speech warrior, it made sense to join the only political party in Britain that is actually fighting for freedom of speech. I’ll be able to turn a younger audience on to UKIP and get them support among the younger people,” Meechan said before urging viewers to join the party.
Soon after, Benjamin announced he would join UKIP along with Meechan, asking “What other options do we have at this point?”
“This is fucking important, in my opinion, so I’ve decided I’m going to be joining UKIP too. By the time that this video is up, I’ll be a member of UKIP and I’ll leave a link in the description if you want to come with me and Dankula and join UKIP as well because fuck the way things are going. Fuck them. I’m fucking sick of how my country’s being run and something has to be done.”
He added, “I don’t want to be doing this. I’ve decided that as a Trumpian protest fuck you to everyone, I’m joining UKIP as well and if you’ve got a problem with it, you can fucking swivel.”
Last but not least, Watson tweeted out his support of UKIP and said that he planned to “take it over in a soft coup which will lead to the total restoration of freedom in the United Kingdom”:
Along with Sargon and @CountDankulaTV, I’ve officially joined UKIP and plan to take it over in a soft coup which will lead to the total restoration of freedom in the United Kingdom. Goodnight. ??✌ pic.twitter.com/7sB3MWpLs3
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) June 17, 2018
Joining UKIP is the new counter-culture. ??
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) June 18, 2018
David Kurten, a UKIP London Assembly Member, thanked the trio for joining:
Welcome to @UKIP, @CountDankulaTV @SargonOfAkkad and @PrisonPlanet !!
— David Kurten ن (@davidkurten) June 18, 2018
