UKIP Euro Candidate’s Vile Racial Slur-Ridden Rant

David Lawrence - 25 04 19

Benjamin is best known for his online following as an anti-feminist YouTuber with a highly casual attitude towards hate speech. He also happens to be UKIP’s second listed candidate in the European elections for the South West region.

In the video obtained by HOPE not hate, the UKIP candidate repeatedly uses the words “n***er”, “sp*c”, “k*ke”, “ch*nk”, “f*g” and “r**ard”, and uses an antisemitic meme. The video was originally posted in November 2015 and titled “Offence is Never Given, R**ard”, and has since been deleted for violating YouTube’s policy on hate speech.

A full uncensored transcript is available at the bottom of this article.

UKIP leader Gerard Batten (right) alongside Carl Benjamin (AKA Sargon of Akkad)

The video is Benjamin’s response to another video encouraging viewers against casual use of the term “r***ard”, which features people of a variety of ethnicities, sexualities and a woman with Down’s syndrome telling viewers that it is unacceptable to direct various slur terms at them. Benjamin then proceeds to liberally use each slur term in question, directly calling an Asian American woman a “ch*nk”, a gay man a “f*g” and a woman with Down’s syndrome a “r**ard” in the process.

The video opens with a suited black American man telling viewers “It’s not acceptable to call me a n***er”, to which Benjamin replies:

“It kind of makes me think that you want the internet to open up with a big bunch of memes on your ass, calling you a n***er. It’s not personal, no one really thinks you’re a n***er […] You’re wearing a suit and tie, no one thinks you’re like some gangster or anything.”

Benjamin later cuts to a picture with the words “Gay N***ers From Outer Space”, claiming he has done so because the man has “provoked” him and that he knows “people like you are going to get offended”.

When a Hispanic woman states “it’s not acceptable to call me a sp*c”, Benjamin replies:

“Yeah okay, but it’s not like I’m walking down the aisles of my local grocery store and I see a sp*c, and go “Hey sp*c! Hey sp*c!”.

Benjamin also states that it is acceptable to refer to Asian people as “ch*nks” as “Asians are privileged” in “almost every walk of life.”

He is especially homophobic during the video. When a man states that it is not acceptable “to call me a f*g”, Benjamin replies:

“Oh fuck off you f*g. That’s not racial discrimination, that’s not even sexual discrimination, that’s just you being a fucking f*g. I don’t even care, I don’t even know that you’re gay, you might not be gay, but you’re still a f*g. Shut up, fuck off.”

To add to all this, he also flashes up the Nazi-like antisemitic caricature meme known as the “Happy Merchant” in response to an elderly Jewish man saying “It’s not acceptable to call me a “k*ke”.

Lastly, the video ends with a woman with Down’s syndrome sat alongside the actress Jane Lynch. When the woman asks viewers not to refer to themselves or their friends as “r**ards”, Benjamin states “What are you talking about retard? The… I will call my friends what I like.” When Lynch states “The r-word is the same as every minority slur”, Benjamin replies: “Oh, well great job trivializing minority slurs, you n***er, sp*c, f*g, ch*nk, k*ke, r**ard.”

Benjamin then states:

“I actually have some advice for you and your n***rs, ch*nks, k*kes, sp*cs, f*gs, r**ards and 1980s tracksuit wearers. Don’t let words hurt you. They are just words […] stop trying to police other people’s speech”.


A still of the video, which uses an extreme antisemitic meme

Appalling History

That Benjamin would release such a video is unfortunately unsurprising, in light of his history of using extreme racist language. Last year in an online rant Benjamin accused opponents of “acting like a bunch of n***ers, just so you know. You act like white n***ers”, adding:

“Maybe you’re just acting like n***ers, mate. Have you considered that? You think white people act like this? White people are meant to be polite and respectful to one another”.

Benjamin continued to state that he would not “have a debate with one of your f***ots”. When asked to comment on these statements by BuzzFeed, Benjamin responded by saying that “n***er” is not as offensive in Britain as it is in the US.

He also has a long track record of vitriolic misogyny. For example, Benjamin has refused to apologise for telling MP Jess Phillips “I wouldn’t even rape you” on Twitter, stating to far-right activist Lucy Brown last week “I wish I’d sent it yesterday”.

In another since-deleted video, released in the wake of the murderous rampage of Elliot Rogers in 2014, who killed six people in an attempt to punish women for not having sex with him, Benjamin angrily blamed feminism for the rise in men carrying out such attacks, claiming that such killers felt “disenfranchised” and “out of options”.

In addition to his own history of using extreme racist, misogynistic and homophobic language is  his willingness to work closely with far-right extremists. HOPE not hate has previously exposed his cameraman Michael Brooks as having referred to himself as “14 and 88” (an infamous white supremacist slogan that combines the racist “14 words” with a numerical code meaning “Heil Hitler”). Amongst numerous racist and far-right social media posts, including sharing nazi iconography online, Brooks has posted a graph showing a supposed increase in the population of sub-Saharan Africa with the caption “Planet of the Apes isn’t science fiction, it’s a warning”. Brooks was spotted alongside Benjamin at the recent far-right Brexit rally, at which Benjamin gave a speech, organised by UKIP and the anti-Muslim activist and serial criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson).

Michael Brooks (left) watching Benjamin interview Steve Bannon

That UKIP would endorse such a candidate is further evidence of the party’s slide into extreme politics. Whilst saying he does not endorse the extreme comments of Benjamin, Gerard Batten has so far stood by him, even after the somewhat bizarre and confrontational press conference last week. Any normal party would move swiftly to eject Benjamin after this vile video has emerged and if UKIP do not it will be the final proof, as if more was needed, that it is a party where racists and misogynists are welcome.  

UKIP leader Gerard Batten (right) with Carl Benjamin (AKA Sargon of Akkad)

CONTENT WARNING: Full Transcript

A full, uncensored transcript of the video outlined above can be accessed below. Note that this transcript includes repeated uses of extremely offensive racist slurs.

[Video opens with a black American man speaking to camera]: It’s not acceptable to call me a nigger.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Why would you begin our conversation like that? It kind of makes me think that you want the internet to open up with a big bunch of memes on your ass, calling you a nigger. It’s not personal, no one really thinks you’re a nigger, it’s just that you’ve turned around and said “It’s not acceptable to call me a nigger” and then no one fucking knows you dude. You’re wearing a suit and tie, no one thinks you’re like some gangster or anything. Oh sorry, were you talking to like the 1810 masters on the plantations or something? Is that, is that who you were talking to? ‘Cus I, I’m not one of those people. I mean, my family has never owned slaves; my granddad was black so he was probably a slave, to be honest. So it’s not like, it’s not like this is a really pertinent conversation to me, but if this video carries on like it does I’m gonna have a real hard time, not posting deliberately offensive content, because I know people like you are going to get offended.

[Text appears reading “GAY NIGGERS FROM OUTER SPACE”, Benjamin continues]: Oh, look what you’ve made me do. Look, this… If you hadn’t provoked me, if you had just kept your whore mouth shut, I wouldn’t be putting a picture with the words “Gay Niggers from Outer Space” over your face.

[Video cuts to an Hispanic American woman speaking to camera]: It’s not acceptable to call me a spic.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Yeah okay, but it’s not like I’m walking down the aisles of my local grocery store and I see a spic, and go “Hey spic! Hey spic!” You know, I don’t know you, I, I don’t really want to talk to you, I don’t need to get your attention by calling you a spic. I don’t even know why you would bring this up, what’s, what’s the deal. But anyway, as, as with the previous guy, I won’t call him a nigger, and I won’t call you a spic. That’s what I agree to.

[Video cuts to an Asian American woman speaking to camera]: To call me a chink

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Aha! Ha ha ha, ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! You lose! It’s actually fine! It’s actually just fucking fine and I’ll tell you why. Because Asians are privileged. In almost every walk of life, Asians make more money, they have better results, and they do better in life than me, just a dumb ass cracker. So, when Asians are filling up all of those top spots in better proportion than white people, you have to understand you have institutional privilege over me, I mean you’re using your platforms to lecture me now. So fuck off chink, it’s okay for me to call you this, because racism is power plus prejudice.

[Video still overlays with the text “This is what SJWs actually believe”]. I don’t have the power in this situation, the chinks do. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

[Video cuts to an man speaking to camera]: To call me a fag

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Oh fuck off you fag. That’s not racial discrimination, that’s not even sexual discrimination, that’s just you being a fucking fag. I don’t even care, I don’t even know that you’re gay, you might not be gay, but you’re still a fag. Shut up, fuck off.

[Video cuts to a Jewish American man speaking to camera]: It’s not acceptable to call me a kike.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks, with video still overlaid with four images of the antisemitic ‘Happy Merchant’ meme]: I totally agree. Absolutely unacceptable. How dare you.

[Video cuts to a woman with Down’s syndrome speaking to camera, alongside the actress Jane Lynch]: it’s not acceptable to call me a retard.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: You know what, fair enough, you can’t change that you’re a retard, and it’s not very nice for me to call your retard. I won’t do it.

[Video continues to play]: Or call yourself or your friends retarded.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Whoa whoa whoa, whoa… What are, what are you talking about? What are you talking about retard? The… I will call my friends what I like. I mean, have you met my friends? They’re retarded. And probably everyone watching this video. And they need to know it! And you’re talking as if a standard medical term – to retard something, to prevent the growth or advancement of something – is not applicable a word when it is actually a very accurate observation. But I’m not angry with you, I’m not suggesting for a second you organised all of this it was your fucking dopey tracksuit wearing friend who obviously did this, so I blame her. You’re an innocent bystander in all of this, I am sure.

[Video continues, Lynch speaks]: The R word is the same as every minority slur.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Oh, well great job trivializing minority slurs, you nigga, spic, fag, chink, kike, retard.

[Video continues] Treat it that way and don’t use it.

[Video pauses, Benjamin speaks]: Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you think you’re my fucking mum or something? Even my mum wouldn’t say that to me, she would just sigh and roll her eyes in disappointment. I don’t really know where you think you’re getting this authority from, but I actually have some advice for you, and your niggers, chinks, kikes, spics, fags, retards and 1980s tracksuit wearers.

Don’t let words hurt you. They are just words. Stop teaching children that words can hurt them. They’re just fucking words. They don’t do anything, they don’t do any damage, no one is ever injured by a word. Therefore, it’s not appropriate to condition children to think they should be injured by words, because, ultimately, they aren’t. Stop trying to police other people’s speech and try actually teaching them something that might be beneficial for themselves in the real world, and remember, please, you aren’t the boss of anyone. No one has to do as you say.

[Cuts to the following text]: DON’T LET THESE AUTHORITARIAN BUSYBODIES CONTROL YOU.

IT’S NOT UP TO YOU TO PROTECT THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS, IT IS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TO DO THAT FOR THEMSELVES.

AND IT CAN BE SO LIBERATING TO BE PURILE [sic] OCCASIONALLY.

GOD FORBID THESE STODGY BASTARDS OUTLAW OFFENDING PEOPLE.

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