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Becca Monaghan
Jun 07, 2022
Twitter
Controversial Republican and notorious conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has hired a new intern – and we'd like to say we're shocked. But, we're not.
Greene, the representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district, confirmed her new hire to The Daily Beast via a spokesperson on Monday.
“I have an intern that was raped by a priest as a young teen, was gay, has offended everyone at some point, turned his life back to Jesus and Church, and changed his life,” Greene told the publication. “Great story!”
The intern-in-question is Milo Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos was once a self-appointed spokesperson for the modern far-right, but his reputation continued on a downward spiral with his constant brushes with scandal and concerning remarks.
\u201cMilo Yiannopoulos posted an image on his Telegram account confirming that he is working in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's congressional office as an intern.\u201d— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1654533090
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Here is a look back at Yiannopoulos' most controversial moments ahead of his new job title.
His fundraiser for a 'gay conversion centre'
In a video shared last summer by @PatriotTakes – an account known for highlighting right-wing extremism and associated content – Yiannopoulos said he had cut ties with the LGBTQ+ community.
"A month or so ago, I tossed my engagement ring in the Pacific Ocean, and I moved to Florida," he said while sharing his misguided aim to “open a center, a clinic for other men who’ve been suffering from same-sex attractions.”
\u201cMilo states that he is starting a conversion therapy center this summer and is looking to hire therapists in Florida.\u201d— PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1624377660
He was banned from Twitter for trolling Leslie Jones
Yiannopoulos was banned on Twitter after launching an attack against actress Leslie Jones, whom he described as “barely literate” and “a man.”
Within a few days of her Ghostbusters release, Jones shared some of the vicious attacks, to which Yiannopoulos accused her of playing the victim.
Yiannopoulos tweeted: "Ghostbusters is doing so badly they've deployed @Lesdoggg to play the victim on Twitter. Very sad!"
This was shortly followed by tweets that read: "Barely literate. America needs better schools!" and "rejected by yet another black dude."
Jones responded later that day that she had reported him to Twitter.
He hired a black porn star as his bodyguard to annoy feminists
Yiannopoulos hired a black porn star, Jovan Jordan, as a bodyguard for a meetup for video gamers.
“My most ardent haters are feminists, and their fear of penises is well-known,” he argued. “It was vital, therefore, that I sought the services of a man believed to have the biggest d*ck in the porn industry.”
He launched a college scholarship for white men only
In January 2016, Yiannopoulos created a charity for white boys as a "social experiment" to wind up "social justice warriors."
The then technology editor at Breitbart News declared it was "exclusively available to white men who wish to pursue their post-secondary education on equal footing with their female, queer, and ethnic minority classmates."
“At present, the Privilege Grant is not accepting new applications or donations,” Yiannopoulos later said in a statement sent by texts to NBC News.
“What started as a social experiment that also did some good — winding up social justice warriors while also sending poor kids to college — became fodder for disingenuous, mouth-breathing retards in the press to baselessly accuse me of ‘white nationalism.’ As a gay man happily married to an African-American, I got tired of explaining to my husband why people on the TV kept calling me a racist," Yiannopoulos wrote.
“Public donations to the Grant have been allocated to worthy recipients, and we are in the process of distributing the final awards," he told NBC News. "We are also discussing what form future activities may take, and under whose leadership they might proceed. The Grant remains a 501(c)(3) charity in good standing with the IRS.”
His comments about younger boys having relations with older men
Yiannopoulos found himself in hot water in 2017 when he appeared to advocate for paedophilia by making comments about “younger boys” having sex with “older men”.
In a resurfaced video, he suggested that it could be a “coming-of-age relationship … in which those older men help those younger boys discover who they are”.
“In the homosexual world, particularly, some of those relationships between younger boys and older men — the sort of ‘coming of age’ relationships — the relationships in which those older men help those young boys to discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable sort of rock,” Yiannopoulos said.
\u201cHere is the uncut 5 minute video of Milo Yiannopoulos advocating for Pederasty involving "13 Year old" and "older men." HIS WORDS.\n@Mschlapp\u201d— Reagan Battalion (@Reagan Battalion) 1487553293
Despite Yiannopoulos apologising in a Facebook post, his speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was cancelled.
“Due to the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning paedophilia, the American Conservative Union has decided to rescind the invitation of Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference,” American Conservative Union Chair Matt Schlapp said in a statement.
Yiannopoulos' since-deleted Facebook apology read: "I am a gay man, and a child abuse victim. I would like to restate my utter disgust at adults who sexually abuse minors,"
"I am horrified by paedophilia and I have devoted large portions of my career as a journalist to exposing child abusers. I've outed three of them, in fact — three more than most of my critics. And I've repeatedly expressed disgust at paedophilia in my feature and opinion writing. My professional record is very clear. But I do understand that these videos, even though some of them are edited deceptively, paint a different picture."
Yiannopoulos said he was "partly" to blame and implied that his "British" sense of sarcasm had been misinterpreted.
"I'm partly to blame. My own experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous," he said. "But I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, "advocacy". I deeply regret that. People deal with things from their past in different ways."
As for his actual remarks, Yiannopoulos said: "As to some of the specific claims being made, sometimes things tumble out of your mouth on these long, late-night live-streams, when everyone is spit-balling, that are incompletely expressed or not what you intended. Nonetheless, I've reviewed the tapes that appeared last night in their proper full context and I don't believe they say what is being reported. I do not advocate for illegal behaviour...I do not believe sex with 13-year-olds is okay.
"When I mentioned the number 13, I was talking about the age I lost my own virginity. I shouldn't have used the word 'boy' — which gay men often do to describe young men of consenting age — instead of 'young man.' That was an error. I am certainly guilty of imprecise language, which I regret.
"Anyone who suggests I turn a blind eye to illegal activity or to the abuse of minors is unequivocally wrong. I am implacably opposed to the normalisation of paedophilia and I will continue to report and speak accordingly."
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Despite his offensive remarks and uncalled for attacks, Yiannopoulos remains adamant that he's simply standing up for free speech.
“All I care about is free speech and free expression,” he said during an appearance on Bill Maher’s show. “I want people to be able to be, do, and say anything.”
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