This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/business/milo-yiannopoulos-resigns-from-breitbart-news-after-pedophilia-comments.html
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Milo Yiannopoulos Resigns From Breitbart News After Pedophilia Comments | Milo Yiannopoulos Resigns From Breitbart News After Pedophilia Comments |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Milo Yiannopoulos had everything he needed to be a smash success in today’s conservative world: A big personality, an intuitive sense for baiting the left and no inhibitions about causing offense. | Milo Yiannopoulos had everything he needed to be a smash success in today’s conservative world: A big personality, an intuitive sense for baiting the left and no inhibitions about causing offense. |
| It hardly mattered that he did not consider himself much of a conservative. | It hardly mattered that he did not consider himself much of a conservative. |
| But Mr. Yiannopoulos’s downfall this week — a dizzying 24 hours in which he lost his speaking slot at the pre-eminent conservative conference, had a book deal canceled and, on Tuesday, resigned under pressure from his job as a senior editor at Breitbart News — was a sign that in today’s political culture, when each day seems to bring a fresh lowering of the bar for decency and civility, some limits still remain. | |
| His glib remarks about pedophilia by Roman Catholic priests and his endorsement of sexual relations with boys as young as 13 drew widespread condemnation from many of the conservatives who had long stood by him, even as he offended so many others with his insulting remarks about Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslims and Jews. | His glib remarks about pedophilia by Roman Catholic priests and his endorsement of sexual relations with boys as young as 13 drew widespread condemnation from many of the conservatives who had long stood by him, even as he offended so many others with his insulting remarks about Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslims and Jews. |
| Mr. Yiannopoulos, appearing in Lower Manhattan wearing a sober suit and red tie on Tuesday afternoon, uttered the words that he had refused to say so many times before: I’m sorry. “I don’t think I’ve been as sorry about anything in my whole life.” | Mr. Yiannopoulos, appearing in Lower Manhattan wearing a sober suit and red tie on Tuesday afternoon, uttered the words that he had refused to say so many times before: I’m sorry. “I don’t think I’ve been as sorry about anything in my whole life.” |
| Many on the right are pointing to the Yiannopoulos controversies as a symptom of a trend toward conservatism as performance art, placing less value on ideas like small government and self-reliance than it does on attitude, personality and provocation. While there are respected conservative thinkers on issues like tax reform, immigration and health care, they say, provocateurs like Mr. Yiannopoulos suck up most of the oxygen, becoming the public face of the movement and pushing more serious ideas to the sideline. | Many on the right are pointing to the Yiannopoulos controversies as a symptom of a trend toward conservatism as performance art, placing less value on ideas like small government and self-reliance than it does on attitude, personality and provocation. While there are respected conservative thinkers on issues like tax reform, immigration and health care, they say, provocateurs like Mr. Yiannopoulos suck up most of the oxygen, becoming the public face of the movement and pushing more serious ideas to the sideline. |
| “You essentially have a world where there are no adults left, nobody exercising moral authority to say, ‘No, this does or does not meet our standards,’” said Matt Lewis, the conservative author of “Too Dumb to Fail,” which dissected how conservatives have abandoned ideas for outrage. “Everybody is just responding to perverse incentives to get more buzz.” | “You essentially have a world where there are no adults left, nobody exercising moral authority to say, ‘No, this does or does not meet our standards,’” said Matt Lewis, the conservative author of “Too Dumb to Fail,” which dissected how conservatives have abandoned ideas for outrage. “Everybody is just responding to perverse incentives to get more buzz.” |
| Mr. Lewis said he would bet that most conservatives had no idea where Mr. Yiannopoulos stood on taxes, abortion or any other issue that has traditionally been important to them. “The only thing we know about him is he’s vulgar, he’s a provocateur and he fights political correctness,” he said. “And I guess that’s what the definition is now for being a conservative.” | Mr. Lewis said he would bet that most conservatives had no idea where Mr. Yiannopoulos stood on taxes, abortion or any other issue that has traditionally been important to them. “The only thing we know about him is he’s vulgar, he’s a provocateur and he fights political correctness,” he said. “And I guess that’s what the definition is now for being a conservative.” |
| On a smaller scale, Mr. Yiannopoulos’s stardom fits neatly with the political culture of a Republican Party that watched Donald J. Trump, a reality television star and businessman, triumph over a party structure that prized loyalty and legacy. That came after personalities like Mr. Yiannopoulos, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck had drowned out the conservative movement’s once-revered intellectual voices. | On a smaller scale, Mr. Yiannopoulos’s stardom fits neatly with the political culture of a Republican Party that watched Donald J. Trump, a reality television star and businessman, triumph over a party structure that prized loyalty and legacy. That came after personalities like Mr. Yiannopoulos, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck had drowned out the conservative movement’s once-revered intellectual voices. |
| Provocateurs like Mr. Yiannopoulos became even more popular the more they rail against the left and its perceived intolerance of their most over-the-line remarks. It almost did not matter who Mr. Yiannopoulos was fighting — an African-American television star, campus demonstrators, the corporate leadership of Twitter — as long as he was fighting. | Provocateurs like Mr. Yiannopoulos became even more popular the more they rail against the left and its perceived intolerance of their most over-the-line remarks. It almost did not matter who Mr. Yiannopoulos was fighting — an African-American television star, campus demonstrators, the corporate leadership of Twitter — as long as he was fighting. |
| “We’ve created a competition for being the most offensive and the most outrageous in order to stay relevant, and then we must rally around and defend you,” said Charlie Sykes, a conservative radio personality and author of the forthcoming “How the Right Lost Its Mind.” | “We’ve created a competition for being the most offensive and the most outrageous in order to stay relevant, and then we must rally around and defend you,” said Charlie Sykes, a conservative radio personality and author of the forthcoming “How the Right Lost Its Mind.” |
| “That knee-jerk defensiveness takes conservatives down some weird, dark alleys,” Mr. Sykes added. | “That knee-jerk defensiveness takes conservatives down some weird, dark alleys,” Mr. Sykes added. |
| Even as it let Mr. Yiannopoulos go and condemned his comments on pedophilia, Breitbart was defiant. | Even as it let Mr. Yiannopoulos go and condemned his comments on pedophilia, Breitbart was defiant. |
| Alex Marlow, Breitbart’s editor in chief, called the comments “indefensible” and “appalling” during his radio program on Tuesday morning. But he also described the release of the audio, by a conservative group called the Reagan Battalion and after Mr. Yiannopoulos had been announced as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a “coordinated hit” by liberal groups intent on hurting his ascent. | Alex Marlow, Breitbart’s editor in chief, called the comments “indefensible” and “appalling” during his radio program on Tuesday morning. But he also described the release of the audio, by a conservative group called the Reagan Battalion and after Mr. Yiannopoulos had been announced as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a “coordinated hit” by liberal groups intent on hurting his ascent. |
| “There seems to be growing evidence that this was all coordinated to wait for a peak moment when Milo was red-hot,” Mr. Marlow said. “They sat on this story and they held it for maximum political damage.” | “There seems to be growing evidence that this was all coordinated to wait for a peak moment when Milo was red-hot,” Mr. Marlow said. “They sat on this story and they held it for maximum political damage.” |
| Mr. Yiannopoulos echoed his former boss in his remarks on Tuesday. “But let’s be clear what is happening here,” he said. “This is a cynical media witch hunt from people who don’t care about children.” | Mr. Yiannopoulos echoed his former boss in his remarks on Tuesday. “But let’s be clear what is happening here,” he said. “This is a cynical media witch hunt from people who don’t care about children.” |
| By naming him a speaker at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference — a stage for the right’s most prominent voices — movement leaders were telegraphing how big of a space Mr. Yiannopoulos had come to occupy in their world, whether they agreed with him or not. | By naming him a speaker at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference — a stage for the right’s most prominent voices — movement leaders were telegraphing how big of a space Mr. Yiannopoulos had come to occupy in their world, whether they agreed with him or not. |
| The chairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp, seemed to acknowledge on Monday that the decision to invite Mr. Yiannopoulos, 33, was at least in part a nod to voters, especially younger ones, who respond to his antics. | The chairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp, seemed to acknowledge on Monday that the decision to invite Mr. Yiannopoulos, 33, was at least in part a nod to voters, especially younger ones, who respond to his antics. |
| “There’s a lot of older traditional conservatives who are looking at younger voters, younger people in the country, and they despair for the fact they think they have lost them,” Mr. Schlapp said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” | “There’s a lot of older traditional conservatives who are looking at younger voters, younger people in the country, and they despair for the fact they think they have lost them,” Mr. Schlapp said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” |
| “We have to deal with the reality in which we live,” he said. “And I think it is unfortunate.” | “We have to deal with the reality in which we live,” he said. “And I think it is unfortunate.” |
| As he gained notoriety, Mr. Yiannopoulos’s presence on college campuses became as much about what would happen outside the lecture hall as what he would say inside. Realizing that, conservative groups began holding him up as a baton-carrying defender of the First Amendment, seeking him out with greater interest because of the outrage he was almost guaranteed to provoke. | As he gained notoriety, Mr. Yiannopoulos’s presence on college campuses became as much about what would happen outside the lecture hall as what he would say inside. Realizing that, conservative groups began holding him up as a baton-carrying defender of the First Amendment, seeking him out with greater interest because of the outrage he was almost guaranteed to provoke. |
| And that backlash, illustrated in its most extreme form at the University of California, Berkeley, this month when rioters smashed windows, set fires and threw rocks at police, would become a tailor-made exhibit for the right in their case against the intolerance of conservative thought in academia. | And that backlash, illustrated in its most extreme form at the University of California, Berkeley, this month when rioters smashed windows, set fires and threw rocks at police, would become a tailor-made exhibit for the right in their case against the intolerance of conservative thought in academia. |
| When that appearance was canceled, even Mr. Trump expressed his outrage on Twitter. | When that appearance was canceled, even Mr. Trump expressed his outrage on Twitter. |
| “Do we want to extract the intolerance of the left so we can expose it? That’s part of it,” said Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, a group that has helped bring Mr. Yiannopoulos to speak at colleges across the country. “Is that the only reason we bring him to campuses? No,” he added. “Sometimes people need to hear some things they don’t want to hear.” | “Do we want to extract the intolerance of the left so we can expose it? That’s part of it,” said Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, a group that has helped bring Mr. Yiannopoulos to speak at colleges across the country. “Is that the only reason we bring him to campuses? No,” he added. “Sometimes people need to hear some things they don’t want to hear.” |
| For now, Turning Point will keep its distance from Mr. Yiannopoulos, but not permanently, Mr. Kirk added. “As an organization, we’re probably going to take a break from engaging with him directly.” | For now, Turning Point will keep its distance from Mr. Yiannopoulos, but not permanently, Mr. Kirk added. “As an organization, we’re probably going to take a break from engaging with him directly.” |
| It appears that Mr. Yiannopoulos does not expect to be off the stage for long. He said on Tuesday that he would proceed with publishing a book, saying other publishers were interested, and that he was planning to start a media venture. | It appears that Mr. Yiannopoulos does not expect to be off the stage for long. He said on Tuesday that he would proceed with publishing a book, saying other publishers were interested, and that he was planning to start a media venture. |
| “I’m proud to be a warrior for free speech and creative expression,” he said, adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” | “I’m proud to be a warrior for free speech and creative expression,” he said, adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” |