The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad - October 06, 2023


My Chat with Deacon Calvin Robinson on His Firing from GB News (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad_591)


Episode Stats


Length

18 minutes

Words per minute

194.72107

Word count

3,637

Sentence count

276

Harmful content

Misogyny

11

sentences flagged

Toxicity

10

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Deacon Calvin Robinson talks about his recent dismissal from his job as a radio host and how he coped with the shock of losing his job. He also talks about why he thinks women should have their own minister for men's mental health, and why he doesn't think they should have a minister for women.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.800 Hi, everybody. This is Gad Saad. It's been less than a year since I had this lovely gentleman on, Deacon Calvin Robinson. How are you doing, sir?
00:00:11.100 I am very well, all things considered. Thank you.
00:00:13.880 So the reason why I asked you, I mean, usually when I invite guests back, a bit more time elapses before they return on the show.
00:00:21.760 In your case, though, you've gone through a very difficult ordeal recently that necessitated that I invite you back.
00:00:29.140 Please tell us about it.
00:00:30.960 Well, it wasn't difficult. It's just a bit dramatic. I got fired from my job two days ago.
00:00:36.180 On the day, I was in shock. It was quite a thing. But the next day, I woke up feeling blessed, actually.
00:00:43.280 Not just because I'm liberated from the position, but also just a reminder that I'm healthy. I'm fit.
00:00:49.260 I've got my friends and my family around me. I'm in a good place, relatively speaking.
00:00:54.660 It's not the end of the world, really. I just lost a job.
00:00:56.820 Well, you know, that attitude of sort of existential gratitude suggests that you may not really need to read my latest book on happiness, because I exactly talk about that, that whenever we face some sort of calamity, we can always use the mindset whereby we contextualize whatever we're currently facing.
00:01:14.920 And I'm not minimizing it. Getting fired is a traumatic thing.
00:01:17.640 But when you put it in the greater hold, you can still walk away feeling smiley.
00:01:21.360 Is this a mindset that you've always had, or did you have to cultivate that mindset?
00:01:25.560 It comes from my faith.
00:01:27.220 You know, the first thing I do when I wake up is I say my prayers and I remind myself that there is something greater than me out there, and it's God.
00:01:33.460 And it's him that blesses me with my life and all the good things in my life.
00:01:37.120 So that constant reminder is what's really framed this mindset.
00:01:40.780 It's nothing to do with me. It's him.
00:01:42.240 Wow. Okay, so walk us through the details for the people who don't know.
00:01:48.900 First, you know, the general story, and then how you got implicated and led to your firing.
00:01:53.640 Okay, so there is a commentator, a left-wing commentator called Ava. 1.00
00:01:57.940 I think her real name is Ava Evans, but it's Ava Santina or something online.
00:02:01.520 And she was talking on a panel show about men's mental health, and one of the panelists suggested that we should have in the UK a minister for men.
00:02:12.380 I thought, you know, this sounds quite a reasonable idea.
00:02:14.280 We have a minister for women. Why not a minister for men too, considering the context of the conversation was men's mental health,
00:02:20.920 and the biggest killer of men in this country is suicide.
00:02:24.620 You know, it shows that men are not cared for in their mental well-being.
00:02:28.640 There's certainly an area there for improvement.
00:02:31.340 But she said, no, men don't need one. 0.99
00:02:33.760 And this wasn't a surprise, because this woman is a known misandrist. 1.00
00:02:37.560 She hates men. She's one of those fourth-wave or fifth-wave feminists, that it's no longer about equality. 1.00
00:02:43.040 It's about superiority.
00:02:45.020 And women can do and say things that men can't, and they can be derogatory towards men in ways that we would never want to be towards women.
00:02:51.800 Anyway, she was having this conversation, and it was a bit vulgar and, you know, just adds to the layer of things that she's said in the past,
00:03:01.560 including whenever a man criticizes her, she texts them on social media saying,
00:03:06.940 such and such would not shag you.
00:03:08.360 You know, they wouldn't shag you.
00:03:09.420 And then Lawrence Fox was invited on to GB News on a Tuesday, which is the day that I'm on with Dan Wotton.
00:03:16.740 And he was having a conversation about her, having a conversation about men's mental health,
00:03:20.500 which I don't know why they were doing that in the first place, but that's what they were doing.
00:03:23.520 And he used her own language.
00:03:25.060 He said, you know, I don't understand people who are fourth-wave feminists like this, 1.00
00:03:29.760 and they're men-hating.
00:03:30.840 Who would want to be with someone like that? 0.98
00:03:32.100 And he said, who would want to shag her?
00:03:33.900 So, crass language, not something that you normally hear on TV, but certainly not the end of the world.
00:03:41.700 But all hell broke loose.
00:03:43.560 There was hysteria.
00:03:45.440 How can he say this about a woman?
00:03:48.020 It's like, well, yeah, to be fair, a man shouldn't be saying this about a woman.
00:03:50.780 But at the same time, it's not illegal.
00:03:53.280 It's immoral.
00:03:54.560 He hasn't broken any Ofcom guidelines or anything like that.
00:03:58.360 Explain what that is before you go on.
00:03:59.980 Explain what that is.
00:04:01.120 Ofcom are the UK regulators.
00:04:02.260 Ofcom are the government quango that regulates everything that goes out in broadcast media. 0.96
00:04:08.920 And so they are our state censors, really.
00:04:12.220 So Lawrence got suspended immediately for that.
00:04:16.040 And then there were comparisons on the internet of men saying this about other men and gay men saying this about other men.
00:04:22.160 You know, I wouldn't shag him.
00:04:23.300 Nothing ever happened.
00:04:25.220 Which is, you know, there's always a bit of hypocrisy around these things.
00:04:28.180 And then Dan Wooten, the host of the show, also got suspended because he didn't challenge Lawrence enough.
00:04:35.420 He tried to in his own way.
00:04:36.740 He was blustered.
00:04:37.860 You know, he was caught off guard.
00:04:39.040 And it's his friend as well, which makes it more difficult.
00:04:41.560 He says something along the lines of, actually, she's quite a beautiful woman, which just made things worse.
00:04:46.460 You're objectifying her. 0.85
00:04:47.800 Yes, yes, it did. 0.99
00:04:50.000 But of course, Dan is a homosexual. 0.99
00:04:51.320 So he wasn't saying it in a way that he would shag her. 0.99
00:04:53.600 He wasn't saying, no, you can't say you won't shag her because I will. 0.98
00:04:55.900 He was saying, look, you can't say that she's ugly. 1.00
00:04:58.280 But what Lawrence was saying, that she's ugly inside, not on the outside. 0.97
00:05:03.700 They got suspended.
00:05:05.020 And I said publicly, this is wrong.
00:05:09.000 You know, there are calls for people, calls from broadcasters, other journalists, to shut down the entire station.
00:05:14.380 You know, GB News should be closed down.
00:05:16.680 It's like, how can someone who calls themselves a journalist be arguing against the free press, against free speech, against diversity of thought and opinion, and saying after one silly mistake to close the whole thing down?
00:05:29.460 Clearly, they're afraid of competition.
00:05:31.200 They're afraid that we offer a different or offered a different perspective to what they offer.
00:05:35.920 And, you know, Sky News, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, they're all, say, metropolitan, liberal elite nonsense.
00:05:41.500 And this is why GB News was founded, because people want a different perspective and more balance.
00:05:45.840 Anyway, I put out some public statements, backing up my friends, standing by them and saying, you know, I don't agree with what Lawrence said.
00:05:54.940 However, I support his free speech.
00:05:57.580 And I don't think it was right to suspend Dan, who was the host of the show.
00:06:02.080 Perhaps Lawrence deserves some repercussions for what he said.
00:06:05.600 But I think it's a bit heavy handed to suspend Dan because of it.
00:06:09.320 If we are going to call ourselves the home of free speech, then we should probably try defending free speech.
00:06:16.440 We haven't broken any Ofcom guidelines, as far as I can tell.
00:06:18.940 We haven't broken any laws.
00:06:20.580 It was just an issue of morality.
00:06:22.820 But in this country, we don't really have a moral compass anymore.
00:06:25.960 I, from a Christian perspective, would say, you know, it was immoral based on my particular worldview.
00:06:32.120 But everyone else seems to be picking their own particular worldviews.
00:06:34.500 It's like, he crossed the pale.
00:06:36.540 Like, which pale?
00:06:37.580 Who's drawing the line?
00:06:38.920 Who's saying which line has been crossed here?
00:06:41.560 The feminist would say it's inappropriate for a man to be commenting on a woman, objectifying her. 1.00
00:06:47.080 But the traditional gentleman might just say, well, men shouldn't talk down to women in that way.
00:06:51.980 We should be providing and protecting for women. 1.00
00:06:53.460 So anyway, it was all very unclear.
00:06:55.220 And I just said, this is wrong.
00:06:56.180 What are we doing here?
00:06:57.500 But I made the mistake of doing it publicly, showing publicly support.
00:07:01.080 And I think this is what we should do.
00:07:03.140 When Gary Lineker got suspended, all of his colleagues stood up for him.
00:07:06.360 And he got returned to his role.
00:07:10.020 But the left are more unified in that way.
00:07:12.360 The right aren't.
00:07:13.120 I stood up, suspecting that some of my colleagues might also stand up for Dan and for Lawrence.
00:07:17.880 And they didn't.
00:07:19.200 So I stuck my head up by myself.
00:07:20.920 And it got chopped off.
00:07:21.760 Well, first of all, thank you for your courage.
00:07:24.400 You're certainly answering the call of being a honey badger.
00:07:28.640 Because most people would have said, oh, let me just worry about my careerist machinations.
00:07:33.660 Why get involved in this?
00:07:34.860 So thank you for your courage.
00:07:36.140 But I'm wondering, if GB News was founded on exactly those principles,
00:07:41.780 so what causes them to capitulate the way that they do?
00:07:44.840 Is it that they're afraid about advertising boycotts?
00:07:47.960 Is it that they're afraid of the few blue-haired Taliban who are going to picket outside their offices?
00:07:54.220 What is it that's causing them to be incongruent with the raison d'etre of why you founded the station?
00:08:01.940 Yeah, there are a few things.
00:08:02.900 So the blue-haired woke mob is one of them because the channel wants to be seen as more mainstream.
00:08:09.720 It wants to be seen as part of the establishment, essentially.
00:08:13.300 And it can't do that with people on the fringe like myself, Lawrence Fox, Neil Oliver, a few others.
00:08:18.280 I suspect Neil will be gone before the end of the year as well.
00:08:20.640 They'll find a reason to get rid of him too.
00:08:21.880 And there are political reasons why the channel wants to become more mainstream.
00:08:26.480 So they're afraid of the woke mob.
00:08:27.940 They're trying to appease them and feed the crocodile, which we know never works.
00:08:31.460 They're also afraid because the advertisers keep pulling out whenever there's something controversial.
00:08:36.520 Because these horrible campaigns like Stop Funding Hate and Hope Not Hate, which are ironically named,
00:08:43.480 just puts so much pressure on advertisers to pull their advertisements whenever people like me or Nigel Farage say anything that's just remotely right of center.
00:08:54.340 So they need to make money as a channel, of course.
00:08:56.980 But of course, there's a balance there to be had.
00:08:59.420 And then there is also Ofcom.
00:09:02.580 And they are petrified of Ofcom, the state censors, because they've had a few fines.
00:09:09.520 And Ofcom can pull your license if you cross the line.
00:09:14.480 And Ofcom are clamping down harder on GB News than they are on other channels.
00:09:18.520 Other channels can say and do the same thing that GB News would do, but not get the same consequences.
00:09:22.420 And that's because we don't have a fair and balanced broadcast media.
00:09:25.840 And I'm presuming that those state censors are very leftist, even though they might pretend that they're nonpartisan, correct?
00:09:32.900 Oh, yeah, absolutely.
00:09:33.760 They say it's all about due impartiality.
00:09:36.780 It's not even about balance.
00:09:38.060 So you don't have to have right or left.
00:09:39.520 But you do have to have due impartiality.
00:09:41.300 You have to show that the other side of the argument has been considered in some way, shape, or form.
00:09:46.440 But that only applies when we're talking from the center right, from a freedom perspective.
00:09:51.700 If you are speaking from the left, you don't necessarily have to show due impartiality.
00:09:55.900 Why is that?
00:09:56.480 Because that's the way that they think.
00:09:57.600 They are metropolitan liberal elites.
00:09:59.460 And they think they are right.
00:10:01.200 So their views don't necessarily need to be challenged in the way that our views do.
00:10:05.220 Wow.
00:10:05.880 I mean, I don't want you to speak for Lawrence.
00:10:08.260 Anyways, we'll be holding a chat for the next couple of days.
00:10:10.860 But do you know what was the reason why the police...
00:10:14.700 I know that he was fired as well.
00:10:16.360 I mean, in his case, for directly making those statements.
00:10:19.240 In your case, it's simply for supporting his right to make those statements.
00:10:22.720 But why did the police go into his house?
00:10:25.280 What were they looking for?
00:10:26.140 What were they trying to do?
00:10:26.840 So Lawrence spoke out on social media about the ULES cameras.
00:10:32.500 And these are the ultra low emission zones that are popping up all across the capital.
00:10:37.440 People are being fined just for driving because apparently fining people for driving is going to help the so-called climate crisis.
00:10:44.560 And it's an authoritarian measure that is costing people their livelihoods.
00:10:49.100 And there's an uprising against it.
00:10:51.020 People are tearing the cameras down.
00:10:52.460 And it's a revolt, something we don't do in England.
00:10:56.080 So it's quite interesting to see.
00:10:57.420 But Lawrence came out in support of them and suggested that at some point he would join them.
00:11:01.560 And even suggested that he had a rich friend who would fund people that wanted to do it.
00:11:07.200 And so the police made an example of Lawrence, probably at the behest of the mayor of London.
00:11:14.180 Six police officers raided his house, took his electronic devices and arrested him and took him down to a custody centre.
00:11:21.080 Again, they say it's a conspiracy to incite criminal damage.
00:11:27.180 However, another example would be Chris Peckham, a TV presenter on a mainstream broadcast network on Channel 4, released a TV programme asking the question,
00:11:38.780 is it time to stop breaking the law for the climate crisis?
00:11:41.900 Suggesting things as extreme as blowing up gas pipes.
00:11:45.140 Nothing happened to him because he's on the right side of the argument.
00:11:47.980 This is the problem.
00:11:49.480 Incredible.
00:11:49.960 Are there any, I mean, I don't know if you could speak about this publicly, but is this something that,
00:11:55.740 whether it be you or Lawrence, and assuming that, I don't know if Dan will get fired eventually,
00:12:00.700 will there be a receptive judicial trajectory for you to file a lawsuit or are all the odds stacked against you guys?
00:12:10.440 Absolutely.
00:12:11.180 I will be using the full force of the law that is available to me because I see it as an injustice and I hate injustice.
00:12:18.140 So I'll be taking whatever paths are available and not necessarily to hurt GB News, but to pull it back on track.
00:12:26.080 I still believe in the mission.
00:12:27.120 I still believe it's essential.
00:12:28.960 There is nothing else out there that can offer this voice.
00:12:31.700 GB News and Talk TV together are the only right of centre, the only people offering a voice to the silent majority in this country.
00:12:39.660 Talk TV doesn't get any views, so it doesn't have very much influence.
00:12:42.120 GB News is it, and they're losing their views.
00:12:44.980 You know, the Tuesday night show that I was on and Lawrence was on, Dan Wotton's show, this week, they had almost half of their viewing figures.
00:12:53.180 People have tuned up because the audience is very, very loyal.
00:12:56.160 The audience is fantastic because they've been waiting for something like this.
00:12:59.140 And then when it turns out to be false, they're like, okay, we want no part in it.
00:13:02.340 In the political sort of journalism ecosystem, does GB News, would it be correct to analogize them to Fox News?
00:13:12.120 Is that sort of the space that GB News is trying to occupy in Britain, that Fox News occupies currently in the U.S. system?
00:13:18.800 I would say yes, but other people would say no.
00:13:22.020 And this has been the divide since the beginning.
00:13:24.080 So people I've been around since the start, and others like me, who are centre-right and not ashamed of it, would say, we need to be a UK Fox News.
00:13:32.400 We need to have this bold centre-right stance, obviously offering a broad spectrum of views and opinions, but being upfront with it.
00:13:41.980 And then there are other people who are, well, no, we need to be more mainstream, and we need to be seen as reasonable and respectable by our enemies.
00:13:49.720 To what end?
00:13:51.540 So there's a divide, a very big divide, actually, within the company.
00:13:55.140 But there's also an infiltration.
00:13:57.860 There are a lot of woke people that work there and don't like the mission statement, aren't on board with the mission statement, but work there because it's a job.
00:14:05.080 And they are the ones undermining it from within.
00:14:07.160 So are you getting a lot of people who privately write to you saying, hey, I really support you, but please don't mention publicly that I'm supporting you?
00:14:16.980 Because that's what I get every day, probably hundreds of these.
00:14:20.180 Yeah, but it's been interesting.
00:14:21.560 So I've been cancelled before.
00:14:23.160 We talked about I was cancelled from the Church of England.
00:14:25.400 Every single priest I knew messaged me, whether they were left or right, didn't matter.
00:14:29.840 They all messaged me and expressed support.
00:14:31.980 And I thought I was very charitable, very noble, and nice and good, and what I would do in return.
00:14:39.140 In the media industry, it's very different.
00:14:40.940 The people that have messaged me, and there are people at GB News that have messaged me privately, but it's very interesting.
00:14:47.420 That divide is clear.
00:14:48.460 The ones that have messaged me are all the ones that I would say are on mission, believe in the mission, in the same way that I do.
00:14:53.700 And the ones that have been silent and or attacked us publicly are the ones that are clearly not on mission.
00:15:00.220 And it's sad.
00:15:01.060 It's really sad to see that.
00:15:03.040 Wow.
00:15:03.380 Are there any major figures, you know, the Pierce Morgans that have come out in public support of you or Lawrence, or have they all been silent?
00:15:14.460 Lawrence has had some public attacks from people, from our colleagues, which I thought was disgusting.
00:15:19.560 I mean, if you don't like what he did, at least stay silent.
00:15:22.880 If you want to support him, great, but don't attack him.
00:15:25.540 I haven't had public attacks or support, other than Amanda Plattel expressed her support today, one of my fellow panelists.
00:15:36.920 But I don't think any of the presenters have said that was heavy-handed and overreach, what you did, Calvin.
00:15:42.960 But they've got to protect their jobs.
00:15:44.280 Yeah.
00:15:45.480 Do you feel, so your original response where you were exhibiting sort of existential gratitude might be a hint to what I'm about to ask next.
00:15:54.180 But do you feel that given that this store has closed, this might allow you, hey, let me go independent.
00:16:00.000 I mean, I'm thinking, say, of Dave Rubin, right?
00:16:02.080 Dave Rubin, who could have gotten jobs with all sorts of established outlets, but said, look, I want to build an independent ship.
00:16:10.600 I want to, you know, not have to face what Calvin Robinson and Lawrence Fox are facing.
00:16:16.860 Is this, might this be the silver lining of this whole story?
00:16:21.700 I try to look for the doors that God opens to me and walk through them.
00:16:24.660 So I'm not actually planning anything.
00:16:26.320 I'm trying to keep my ear to the ground and discern where I should be going next.
00:16:30.020 I've always avoided independent media because I don't, I'm a commentator.
00:16:37.000 I speak on events that are happening and I give my perspective and I try to put forward the Christian viewpoint, but I don't want to be a producer and I don't want to have to edit clips.
00:16:47.920 And that's different.
00:16:49.500 That's a very different role that I'm not attracted to.
00:16:51.740 So I haven't done my own YouTube channel for that very reason, because I can't afford to hire a team.
00:16:57.780 So there are solutions to that even.
00:16:59.880 So maybe that would be a potential future, but I don't know.
00:17:03.160 I'm just, I'm discerning at the moment.
00:17:04.860 I could, maybe I'm going to step away from media entirely and focus on something else.
00:17:08.820 I'll, I'll see where God nudges me.
00:17:11.140 How about writing?
00:17:12.860 Have you thought of that?
00:17:13.800 I mean, not writing in terms of small outlets.
00:17:16.720 I mean, you know, short articles.
00:17:18.000 How about a book?
00:17:19.680 Yes.
00:17:19.980 Yes.
00:17:20.500 I've had a book agent for a long time.
00:17:24.400 I've had a number of publishers get in touch, but I haven't had the time to actually sit down and write a book.
00:17:29.880 So maybe, maybe that could be something who knows.
00:17:32.560 And I will just, just to kind of put fire underneath your feet, if it, if it helps.
00:17:38.140 I'm a one man show.
00:17:40.060 I have a very, very stressful full-time job as a professor with a lab, with students, with graduate students, with grants and whatever I've been able to do on my YouTube channel and podcast.
00:17:49.920 Has been, you're looking at it.
00:17:51.580 And I probably have, what, 32 million views on YouTube, another 8 million downloads on.
00:17:58.820 So, you know, don't underestimate the ability.
00:18:01.460 Even if you don't have an editor and a producer, if your voice and your message is a powerful one, people will flock.
00:18:07.900 And so hopefully whatever you do next will only amplify your voice.
00:18:12.400 That's a fair point.
00:18:13.120 Thank you for that.
00:18:13.580 And you do a great job.
00:18:14.460 So if you can do it, anyone can do it, eh?
00:18:16.260 There you go.
00:18:17.780 Listen, I'm not going to keep you much longer.
00:18:19.520 I just wanted to at least have it on the record.
00:18:22.500 It's such a timely story.
00:18:24.320 And it's a growing number of people who are facing exactly what you faced.
00:18:27.620 Thank you for your courage.
00:18:28.780 Please stay on the line so that we can say goodbye offline.
00:18:31.460 And much success to you in the future.
00:18:33.620 And I hope to talk to you soon in person.
00:18:35.700 Thank you, Gad.
00:18:36.220 And thank you to your viewers.
00:18:37.220 God bless you all.
00:18:38.140 Thank you.
00:18:38.480 Cheers.
00:18:38.680 Cheers.
00:18:38.740 Cheers.
00:18:38.780 Cheers.