It’s what’s become a real “he said, he said” scandal, that frequent target of the left, Milo Yiannopoulous, has been disinvited as the lead speaker at a major Conservative political gathering in the nation’s capital. Milo had been billed as the keynote speaker at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The CPAC leadership, however, rescinded his invitation on 20 February after the release of a video originally dated April 2016 caught their eye. The video depicts Milo on a late-night radio talk show making crude comments about sexual relationships between teenagers and older men, using his own experience as a 14-year-old with a Catholic priest as the basis for his remarks.
Milo Yiannopoulous
The internet quickly took sides; while many labeled the provocative Milo a pedophile, others pointed to the origin of the video as a selectively edited hit job, perpetrated by leftists in another attempt to discredit one of the few people who can effectively counter them on their own turf. Some even accused Republicans who oppose President Trump as being behind the debacle. And some say the left is behind the video. At this hour, no one is taking responsibility for creating the video file that has caused the dust-up.
Mr. Yiannopoulous, known simply as Milo among his followers, posted two lengthy statements on his Facebook page to counter the accusations, pointing to his history as a journalist exposing pedophiles.
“There are selectively edited videos doing the rounds, as part of a co-ordinated [sic] effort to discredit me from establishment Republicans, that suggest I am soft on the subject,” wrote Milo in his first statement, titled “A Note for Idiots.” Later, Milo wrote a second statement, in which he took a more contrite tone, saying he was “partly to blame” for the fiasco.
“I am a gay man, and a child abuse victim,” he began, “and I’ve repeatedly expressed disgust at pedophilia in my feature and opinion writing. My professional record is very clear.” Milo went on to admit, however, that he understands that his “usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation, and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy,” or worse, agreement with and advocacy for pedophilia.
Finally, Milo appeared in a live Facebook video, sans his usual brashness, explaining that he was “deeply sorry” for those who had viewed the edited video and took from it that he was endorsing pedophilia. Drawing attention to one of the parts edited out of the video, Milo pointed out that in that same interview, he stated that he “agreed with the age of consent,” calling it “about right.” Milo also admitted that his statements, edited or not, were “stupidly worded; some of the wording that I used was dumb.” He reiterated his disgust for crimes against children but stated that he understood why CPAC made the decision to disinvite him.
The debate over those “stupidly worded” statements rages on, as many continue to take sides, and David Brock’s ShareBlue piled on with the headline “Milo defender Donald Trump was proudly announced to join the pedophilia advocate at CPAC.” Though there has been no official word, some are claiming Breitbart is also considering whether to drop Milo as an editor. The story is rapidly developing, and Liberty Nation, as always, will continue to bring our readers the unbiased and unvarnished story as it progresses.
