Cenk Uygur, the co-host of “The Young Turks” and a longtime anti-Trumper, recently acknowledged feeling “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s victory earlier this month.
Despite his previous criticism of Trump on his progressive online talk show, Uygur shared on his X account that he found hope in Trump’s win because it signified the defeat of “the establishment.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m more optimistic now than I was before the election, even though I was so against the guy who won. I know now. MAGA is not my mortal enemy (and neither is the extreme left). My mortal enemy is the establishment. And they have been defeated!” he wrote.
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Cenk Uygur, host of “The Young Turks,” admitted on Friday he’s feeling “optimistic” following President-elect Trump’s win. (Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
The shift in Uygur’s perspective is significant, given his previous strong criticism of Trump, whom he referred to as an “unstable madman” just weeks before the election on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
On Friday, Uygur expressed satisfaction not only that the “establishment candidate” lost but also that the mainstream media suffered a major setback.
In a subsequent post on X, he added, “It’s not just that the establishment candidate lost, it’s that their media is mortally wounded. The source of their strength was not insipid politicians like Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. The source of their strength was their propaganda machine – the mainstream media.”
He continued, highlighting that independent media now has more freedom following Trump’s victory.
“Now, online media is strong enough that their oppressive monopoly on the American mind has been broken. Now, we’re in the jungle. They hate that! I love it! This uncontrolled marketplace of ideas is where I’m home. I’d rather be in the populist woods than an establishment prison.”
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Uygur claimed that Trump’s win was also a win for “independent media” like Joe Rogan’s podcast. (Screenshots/The Joe Rogan Experience)
Various commentators and the Trump campaign itself have credited independent media for the president-elect’s victory on Election Day. Trump’s decision to engage with popular podcasts and influencers like Joe Rogan, The Nelk Boys, and others before the vote paid off among Gen Z men and millennials. According to the Fox News Voter Survey, men aged 18-44 supported Trump at 53% compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 45%.
Ex-Young Turks alum Jimmy Dore expressed skepticism towards Uygur’s new perspective, posting on X, “Cenk is a phony & a willing propagandist who is a cancer on the political discourse in America.”
Earlier this month, Uygur made headlines for challenging presidential historian Allan Lichtman on Morgan’s talk show after Lichtman’s incorrect 2024 election prediction using his “Key to the White House” model. The historian had predicted a victory for Harris.
“Look, I debated Professor Lichtman before. I told him his theories about the keys are absurd. I was right. He was wrong. I said he’d lose his keys,” Uygur told the panel, including Lichtman.
Lichtman responded, “No, you were not right, and I was not wrong!” interrupting, “And that’s a cheap shot. And I will not stand for it.”
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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