It’s been six months (!) since Bassem Youssef joined Mehdi for an episode of ‘We’re Not Kidding’, and since then Israel has started two new wars, right-wing podcasters have turned on Donald Trump over his war with Iran, and centrist Democrats have mounted a cancellation campaign against leftist streamer Hasan Piker. But before they get to any of that, Mehdi asks Bassem about the most recent dump of Epstein files.
“What has shocked you most about the Epstein saga?” Mehdi asks.
“It’s the blatant gaslighting. You have a guy who is pro-Israel, and yet they tell you, ‘Oh, he might be a Russian spy,’” Bassem says.
They dig into Epstein and Mehdi’s viral interview with the so-called “Professor Jiang,” the two get into a friendly argument over which terms and ideas qualify as religious tropes and how the weaponization of antisemitism by Zionists has diluted the meaning of the word. “Bassem, why can’t you be careful in your language? Are you doing it for clicks?” Mehdi asks. “I’m not saying my reaction is right, but I’m saying my reaction is natural,” Bassem says.
The two also debate whether right-wingers like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson can be trusted allies for calling out Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Donald Trump’s war with Iran, or if they’re just opportunists who see the writing on the wall for the MAGA movement. “Why don’t you like Candace Owens or Tucker Carlson?” Bassem asks Mehdi, who explains his position on the two.
They also discuss:
Zionists cracking down on free speech and civil liberties.
Whether “Pax Judaica” is an antisemitic trope or not.
The ‘radicalization’ of US citizen Moshe Katz who recently died in Lebanon fighting for the Israeli military.
Why Bill Maher is… just the worst.
You really don’t want to miss this episode!
Free subscribers get a 5-minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Check out more from Zeteo:
