Citizen journalist Tim Pool of Timcast IRL hosted a debate between leftwing YouTuber Vaush (Ian Kochinski) and pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk yesterday. The stream caused upset among some members of the 4chan community, and was divisive on Twitter.
Who are Vaush and Charlie Kirk?
Real name Ian Kochinski, Vaush is a prolific YouTuber with 360K subscribers at time of writing. Per his Instagram, he identifies as an “antifascist” and “libertarian socialist”. He is also a “big fan of democracy”.
Born Valentine’s Day 1994, the 27-year-old hails from Los Angeles, California. He is of Irish and Polish descent, and his parents are in the film industry. Previous high profile debate partners include Carl Benjamin, aka Sargon of Akkad, and comedian Isaac Butterfield.
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Charlie Kirk, a year Kochinski’s senior, is an American conservative activist and radio talk show host. He is the founder and public face of Turning Point USA, a non-profit that seeks to advance conservative values in the US.
What happened during the Vaush vs Charlie Kirk debate?
The Vaush vs Charlie Kirk debate, hosted by Tim Pool of Timcast, streamed live 11 hours ago. It is available to watch on YouTube.
Audience members have taken to Twitter to highlight significant moments during the debate.
During one exchange on the origins of America, for example, Charlie Kirk claims that the notion that America was founded on slavery is “heretical”.
There are those who appreciated the debate, calling it “awesome” and “level headed”. As one user puts it, “95% of this Vaush/Charlie Kirk debate is Kirk asking Vaush a question, Vaush spending 3 minutes answering it, and Kirk saying that he mostly agrees”.
However, it appears to have riled certain members of the 4chan community.
What did 4chan have to say about the debate?
Twitter account @KnowS0mething tweeted screenshots from a 4chan thread about the Vaush v Charlie Kirk debate.
They wrote that members of the community are “malding”, i.e., going so mad that they start balding. The term originated on Twitch, although it has had an official listing on Urban Dictionary since 2011.
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The qualm of those complaining appears to be that Charlie Kirk was insufficiently challenging. Instead, 4chan users called on each other to “keep spamming Nick Fuentes in the chat”.
As a result, Tim Pool’s YouTube chat bubbled with people saying “debate Nick Fuentes”.
Nick Fuentes, even younger than Vaush and Charlie Kirk, is a 22-year-old American white nationalist political commentator. He has previously clashed with Charlie Kirk for being inadequate in his conservatism.
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Followers of Vaush’s channel have been suggesting that he debate Nick Fuentes for at least two years. Fuentes has also talked about debating Vaush, but does not appear to want to.