Conspirituality Brief: MAGA’s Censorship Hypocrisy

Podcast: Conspirituality
Hosts: Derek Beres, Julian Walker
Date: September 27, 2025

Main Theme

This episode explores the blatant hypocrisy in MAGA’s approach to censorship and free speech, as demonstrated in a letter from Rep. Clay Higgins. The hosts dismantle how right-wing actors who once decried censorship now openly demand extreme silencing of their opponents, spotlighting the ongoing convergence of evangelical-nationalist rhetoric, alt-right disinformation, and Big Tech complicity.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Higgins Letter and Its Context

• [03:31-08:39] Background on Clay Higgins:

  • Higgins, a MAGA Republican from Louisiana’s 3rd district, has a long record of inflammatory, racist, and violent rhetoric.
    • Supported David Duke’s KKK campaign, compared abortion to the Holocaust, opposes same-sex marriage despite multiple marriages, refused child support, made racist comments about Haiti, and resigned from law enforcement for misconduct.
    • Ties to far-right militia groups: "He’s much more than a lab leaker. He claimed that the Chinese Communist party intentionally created COVID-19 as part of a biological warfare campaign." (Derek Barris, 07:39)
    • Vocal in physically suppressing speech (e.g., removing a progressive activist in 2023): "Because, you know, free speech." (Derek Barris, 08:35)
  • Higgins's letter addressed to CEOs (Meta, X, YouTube, TikTok, BlueSky, Truth Social).
    • [04:20] "I saw it somewhere on Blue Sky. It’s actually funny that he would send it to Jay Graber. I’m sure she burned it up right away..." (Derek Barris)
  • Letter content: Demands immediate removal and permanent bans for all social media users who “celebrated” Charlie Kirk’s (fictitious) assassination.

• [10:10] Tone and Ideological Flavor:

  • Higgins wields biblical language, nationalist paranoia, and emotional manipulation:
    • "We the people are done quietly tolerating the Nasty, filthy hatred of the left in our public spaces. They're to be shunned in every way. Enough. It is enough. We're scourging the temple." (Clay Higgins, quoted by Julian Walker, 10:32)
  • Exposes contradiction: demands extreme censorship while publicly sponsoring bills for “protecting free speech.”

2. Censorship, Free Speech, and Political Hypocrisy

• [12:00-15:02] MAGA's Shift on Free Speech:
  • Recalls Higgins's 2023 co-sponsorship of “Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act":
    • Proclaimed "no single organization, including the federal government, should determine what constitutes an acceptable form of speech." (Derek Barris, 11:50)
  • Now demands sweeping silencing and deplatforming, with the threat of legislative action against platforms.
  • Notable quote:
    • "In the spirit of what I’ve been doing today… Here it is: ‘…Your platforms are rightfully expected to expeditiously remove all posts that have celebrated the political assassination of Charlie Kirk… authors of these posts are to be identified and banned from your platform, as well as any new pages they may create.’" (Julian Walker reads from Higgins’ letter, 13:04)

3. Big Tech Complicity & Corporate Pressure

• [14:01-16:59] Social Media Platforms & Trump Era Moves:
  • Platforms (YouTube, Meta, Twitch) have reinstated banned right-wing accounts under direct or indirect pressure from Trump’s administration.
    • Meta’s $25 million settlement with Trump, including a contribution to his “presidential library”: “As if he’s ever going to build it. As if he reads.” (Derek Barris, 15:01)
    • "Twitch reinstated Trump's account. I didn’t even know it was there… after his indefinite ban." (Derek Barris, 15:13)
  • White House photo ops for tech CEOs, public expressions of “gratitude” for Trump’s leadership and deregulation.

4. Section 230 & Legal Threats

• [16:18] Higgins’s threat to Section 230:
  • "If you shield these offenders, Section 230 will not protect your platform from vigorous exposure." (Julian Walker quoting Higgins)
  • Section 230: the legal shield preventing platforms from being treated as publishers. Higgins now weaponizing against tech companies for not carrying out his punitive censorship.

5. Broader Attack on Media

• [22:53-27:52] Fusion of Tech, Media, and State Power
  • AI tools like Grok integrated into government; Department of Education civics project led by conservative operatives.
  • Right-wing oligarchs (Larry Ellison, Andreessen Horowitz) poised to take over TikTok’s U.S. operations.
  • Major conservative broadcasting groups (Nexstar, Sinclair, Paramount) trying to dissolve antitrust limits to expand their digital and cable reach:
    • "Essentially what we have under the Trump administration is an oligarchical feeding frenzy." (Julian Walker, 25:35)
    • "If you control what grandma and granddaughter watch for news and how they get their information, they're going to be fed the same sorts of ideological biases and likely not realize it..." (Derek Barris, 26:12)
  • The project goes beyond “alternative” media: the aim is to dominate media as a whole, not just cater to a conservative niche.

6. Democratic Response and Strategy

• [16:59, 17:49-19:14] Democrats' Struggle to Adapt:
  • Example: Gavin Newsom openly states Republicans’ media strategies are working and Democrats are failing to match.
  • Hosts discuss the necessity of new approaches and political humility as right-wing power consolidates:
    • "Let's be sort of frank about where we're failing and try and figure out some new strategies. So I'm all for that." (Julian Walker, 19:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Political Violence Hypocrisy:
  • "Political violence is unacceptable unless you're beating cops half to death at the Capitol and then getting a full pardon." (Julian Walker, 02:03)
• On Higgins’s Moral Masquerade:
  • "He opposes same sex marriage, but he's been married four times and he's been sued by his ex for failing to pay over $140,000 in child support, because, you know, Christian moralism." (Derek Barris, 05:44)
• On Media Oligopoly:
  • "This particular aspect of the broader story… usually ends with people saying, 'Well, only boomers watch local TV anyway.' It's partially true. But… all these companies have a heavy digital footprint and it's expanding, and all of them are capitulating to Trump right now." (Derek Barris, 25:53)
• The Larger Project:
  • "They've always wanted to control all media, especially the ones that cater to the liberal elites. So now we're watching it unfold right before our eyes." (Derek Barris, 26:48)
• Summary of MAGA Hypocrisy:
  • "Magas don’t really give a shit when you tell them that they’re hypocrites. But for the rest of us, I think it’s still important to note the glaring examples..." (Julian Walker, 19:14)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:31-08:39: Clay Higgins’s biography and background
• 10:10-12:09: Higgins’s statements and contradiction with supposed free speech principles
• 14:01-16:59: Big Tech capitulation under MAGA pressure
• 16:18: Higgins’s threat to Section 230
• 17:49-19:14: Democratic Party response and Newsom’s position
• 22:53-27:52: Media consolidation and right-wing power grab

Tone and Language

• The hosts’ tone is wry, frustrated, and urgent, with regular barbs and dark humor about the surreal state of American politics.
• Frequent sarcasm and direct quotes highlight the contradictions and dangers with specificity and exasperation.
• Language is accessible but explicit about the stakes: the episode pulls no punches characterizing the “oligarchical feeding frenzy” and “mastery of trollish hypocrisy” on display.

Summary Takeaway

“MAGA’s Censorship Hypocrisy” reveals how the current right-wing embrace of extreme censorship completely contradicts years of performative free-speech posturing. The hosts unravel the tactics and the background—personal, political, and technological—that allow such hypocrisy to go unchecked and potentially mainstream. All while warning that these efforts are part of a broader, coordinated shift: not just to create an “alternative” media sphere, but to seize all levers of influence over American discourse—online and off.