JonTron

AlexJontron Jonathan "JonTron" Jafari is a popular YouTuber who reviews awful, old, or obscure video games and movies in a comedic manner. He was formerly the co-host of Game Grumps. Jafari's channel has 6.66 million subscribers and 1.17 billion views (as of 21 October 2021).https://www.youtube.com/user/jontronshow/about
However, this is not why we are talking about him...
==Here's the thing...==
After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Jafari became more vocal about his political views. Jafari has since expressed support of views consistent with white nationalists and the alt-right in a debate with Twitch.tv streamer Destiny. For obvious reasons, those living in the reality-based community didn't take too well to all that. This includes Playtonic Games, the developers known for being part of Rare's team that developed the games.JonTron is known for his videos related to Banjo-Kazooie, particularly his video. Due to the controversy, Playtonic Games pulled JonTron's voice effects from Gajana, M. (23 March, 2017). YouTube Star JonTron Removed From Yooka-Laylee After Inflammatory Comments on Race and Immigration. Time. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
Despite his vocal opinions outside the show, Jafari in the show surprisingly handles sensitive topics maturely while still being funny.Thus far. Fingers crossed. Let's also hope Jacques, the green-cheeked parakeet, doesn't turn to the dark side. In one notable video, "Disney Bootlegs", Jafari negatively reacts to a swastikahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ghGWWfzq-o&t=8m30s and a blackface depictionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ghGWWfzq-o&t=13m36s while still executing a humorous and entertaining comedy routine. He has used "Nazi" as an insultChristmas with the Kranks - JonTron (December 25, 2016) and said that Adolf Hitler's death is the exception to the statement "the death of anyone is a sad occasion".Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf - JonTron (October 30, 2016)
In stark contrast to how the issues are handled on the JonTron show, there is a problem with Jafari's real-life views — as expressed by himself outside the sketch comedy-type setting of the JonTron show.In other words, our reason for covering Jafari has nothing to do with butthurtedly attempting to find fault with the jokes of a popular entertainer. We have a great (and snarky!) sense of humor, don't worry. This is about... Well, just read the quotes from Jafari and judge for yourself.
==Straight from the horse's mouth==
In general, Jafari's responses to Destiny (the streamer, not the mainly consisted of laughter, moving the goalposts, and denial or willful ignorance in the face of well-established facts. 
Fact check: They're both right. Irish people were indeed historically persecuted in America due to being perceived as barbaric drunkards (and as Catholics, which was considered an "un-American" belief system at the time). However, they were still considered "whites" by law and customSorry, but the Irish were always ‘white’ (and so were Italians, Jews and so on) - Washington Post (22 March 2017) (a foul group of whites, but still whites). For instance, they were allowed to go to "whites-only" schools in the South and were allowed to marry a white Anglo-Saxon when interracial marriage was against the law. It is also true that the Irish faced massive, systemic discrimination of another kind.
Jafari repeatedly followed (almost word-for-word) the logic of the "white genocide" conspiracy theory.
Fact check: False. Jafari's claim is flawed on multiple levels. First, a white person today cannot claim to be the descendant of any white person in history. A significant number of white people who currently live in the U.S. do not have ancestors who contributed to the formation of the U.S., and many of their ancestors still lived in Europe when the U.S. was formed. Second, Jafari incorrectly assumes that those who "built" the United States were exclusively white people, which falsely suggests that people of other races cannot claim to have ancestors who helped build the country. For example, his statement ignores the many important American structures built by enslaved black people.6 Historic Structures in America That Were Built by Slaves - The Root (26 July 2016) Third, people of mixed ancestry can have white ancestors, not just white people.Remind a white supremacist of this and they'll probably throw a tantrum about "impurity" or some such nonsense. Finally, Jafari contradicts his own point by being implicitly okay with the minority status of Native Americans in their native land.
Note: Jafari's comment about Mexicans wanting to break parts of America off back into Mexico is referring to the which the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League have described as a myth and conspiracy theory.https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2010/05/05/arizona-debate-unleashes-new-‘reconquista’-accusationshttps://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2007/former-navy-seal-matthew-bracken-publishes-book-touting-aztlan-conspiracy-theoryhttps://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/civil-rights/immigration/Immigrants-Targeted-UPDATE_2008.pdfhttp://www.salon.com/2016/09/02/the-mexico-sends-them-myth-trumps-not-just-racist-but-channeling-far-right-immigration-conspiracies/ Jafari has also said that the Southern Poverty Law Center is "the worst" and sarcastically described them as "the most unbiased institution of all time".Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) 
Fact check: This is false, chiefly for two reasons. First, Japanese liberals are evolving Japan's restrictive immigration and acculturation policies,https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/12/national/new-visa-statuses-proposed-blue-collar-workers-not-offer-permanent-residency-new-justice-minister-takashi-yamashita/#.W9jBe9VKipo.html albeit quietly.http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/its-population-ages-japan-quietly-turns-immigration For one, in 2016, prime minister Shinzo Abe vowed to provide foreign workers with "the world’s fastest path to permanent residency in Japan".http://japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/Documents/2016/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/06/02/jpnplnde_en.pdf Second, claims to Japanese 'cultural homogeneity' are actually quite misleading.http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-japan-copied-american-culture-and-made-it-better-180950189/ Massively simplified: both the current nature and international success of Japanese pop culture stand on two historical legs — forcible import of foreign culture (via U.S. influence post-WW2)http://conconflicts.ssrc.org/USA/igarashi/https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1qpfj7/how_did_pop_culture_evolve_in_japan_after_wwii/ followed by far-reaching export of remixed culture (ultimately via the Internet).https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/how-japan-became-a-pop-culture-superpower/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-07-25/is-japanese-style-taking-over-the-world The result of this globalized 'two-way cultural communication' is that even xenophobic Japan falls short of any disciplined standard of 'homogeneity', cultural or otherwise.https://japansociology.com/2012/07/03/influence-of-globalization-on-culture/http://www.japanpitt.pitt.edu/essays-and-articles/culture/japanese-popular-culture-and-globalization A supposed rhetorical shift from 'cultural' to 'ethnic' homogeneity won't work either — and not merely because the very notion of 'ethnic purity' is inherently nonsensical — considering Japan has already accepted about 2.32 million immigrants, representing roughly 2% of Japanese citizens.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-population-decline-idUSKBN19Q19B And immigration aside — just consider the 'heterogeneity' already inherent to Japan.The the and come to mind — to name a few things. Perhaps most crucial of all: Japan isn't exactly a brilliant example to hold up in support of any thesis that "".http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/japans-greatest-challenge-its-not-china-massive-population-16212 In fact, as a consequence of its historically über-strict immigration policies,https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-17/japan-needs-people-and-a-cultural-revolution an unprecedented demographic crisis (read: acute lack of youths with elbow grease)http://uproxx.com/technology/japan-population-shrink/ now looms over Japan, leaving a massively increased influx of immigrants their best (and maybe only) optionhttp://thediplomat.com/2014/03/japans-demographic-crisis-any-way-out/ for safeguarding the very future of their country.http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-fertility-crisis-2017-4?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
Jafari also defended "scientifically racist" views of society:
Fact check: False. The crime rates are not consistent across Africa and vary significantly. For instance, 2017 Crime Index has South Africa rated at 75.72 (the 4th highest globally), whereas Ghana is rated at 46.99 (56th globally).https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp South Africa has the most white people with 8.9% of the population of any African country,http://howafrica.com/top-10-african-countries-with-highest-white-population-as-of-2017/ and white people are so rare in Ghana that many locals have never seen them in person before.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-curley/ghana-not-a-tourist-frien_b_962505.html Before anyone uses this to argue that white people are inherently predisposed to crime, we should draw a comparison to Norway, a developed nation with a non-white population of 2%,https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/no.html which is rated 45.69 (61st globally). Tunisia scores even better at 40.94 (73rd globally). Any implication of racial predisposition to crime is not backed up by the data. 
Jafari further echoed the logic of the Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white white supremacist mantra.
Jafari goes on, saying that all forms of discrimination are dead and gone in the Western world:
Fact check: False. Jafari seems to be referring to legal discrimination, but his statement is still inaccurate. While the United States does have anti-discrimination acts, that does not mean that the country has "gotten rid of discrimination." This logic would be the same as saying that a country has gotten rid of murder because it is against the law. Additionally, there are still many ways a person can be legally discriminated against in the U.S.Here's Everywhere In America You Can Still Get Fired For Being Gay Or Trans - Fast Company (3 March 2016)8 Ways Employers Can Discriminate Against Workers -- Legally - AOL (19 November 2012)
Jafari later admitted that "discrimination certainly exists."My Statement: JonTronShow (Mar 19, 2017)
===Response video===
Jafari made a video responding to this ordeal titled "My Statement" now unlistedMy Statement: JonTronShow (YouTube). March 19, 2017. in which he makes two fundamental assertions: [1] he's a lousy debater and was unprepared, so he misstated some of his beliefs, and [2] "the increasing tribalization of our culture" prevents "honest conversation about race".Transcript (archiv.is: http://archive.is/6oGa6) While it is possible that Jafari was consistently, accidentally racist for over an hour, it's also possible that he's just playing damage control. Despite this, Jafari never apologized for any of his remarks and only retracted his comment that "we've gotten rid of discrimination." Jafari briefly addressed his statements regarding the treatment of Irish immigrants in the United States, stating "...we as a country have had a terrible history of dealing with race … even the Irish". However, the vast majority of Jafari's explicitly racist comments made during the debate are only vaguely alluded to as "offhanded comments" and "stuff that could be misconstrued a lot of ways". Whether these are deliberate attempts to obfuscate his political beliefs or just poorly structured rambling, it is clear that Jafari's views had not meaningfully changed.
===Additional quotes===
27 January 2017 (stream with Sargon of Akkad)
*"I didn't really understand what Gamergate was about. I think that was me still in my phase of like 'eh, this will go away.' Like, this isn't something that's gonna be, like, have staying power. Like I'll just stay out of this. I don't really care. I don't know what it is."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) 
(Note: In October 2014, JonTron made several tweets about Gamergate, including: "I don't even know what GamerGate was ever about and it needs to go away", "If you're trying to convince me this movement is about ethical games journalism at this point...you're doing a bad job", and "I just don't understand the movement and it seems largely poisonous.")JonTron comes out against GamerGate Storify.com via Archive.is.Jafari's October 2014 tweets about Gamergate: 
*"I know some people look at [the] alt-right as right-wing SJWs. I really don't, I just see them as the only possible reaction to SJWs."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"If Germany goes 'eh, fuck it!' the whole world's like 'we're good. Germany uncucked, we're good guys.'"Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"Once Le Pen and Wilders gets in. Hopefully they win, hopefully they win..."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"I hate that argument like 'Democrats are the real racists' but sometimes I don't fucking know."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"If I stay silent, shall this left take over and become New World Order, one world global, horror, shit show, gender equality government? Like what are we headed towards? [laughs]"Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"These treasonous media elites. These fucking cancerous people have been lying, spinning narratives for four fucking years."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"People are generally tribal. It's ok, just don't try to kill each other over it please."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"He is like a super-villain."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) (referring to George Soros)
*"They have been trying to silence science on those subjects because they're politically incorrect. I don't think there's any harm from studying them. But we shouldn't say you're low IQ so 'blank' or you're high IQ so 'blank'. A high IQ can go to waste. A low IQ can do amazing."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
*"...the fact that Chicago has a higher murder rate than Afghanistan."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) 
(Note: This is not a fact. To be fair to Jafari, he is likely misremembering, misinterpreting, or misstating the truth rather than lying. There were more murders in Chicago (between 2001 and September 2016) than Americans killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Homicides In Chicago Eclipse U.S. Death Toll In Afghanistan And Iraq - Forbes (8 September 2016) That being said, this is not a fair comparison. In 2012, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan was approximately 90 thousand compared to Chicago's population of almost 3 million.No, Chicago Is Not More Dangerous Than Afghanistan - Mother Jones (15 August 2012) In other words, U.S. troops in Afghanistan amount to about 3% of Chicago's population. The overall homicide rates in 2015 were: Afghanistan: 33.3 per 100,000 people (not including deaths inside Taliban-controlled territory), Chicago: 18.1 per 100,000 people.Is Chicago More Dangerous Than A 'War Zone?' Not Even Close - DNAinfo (22 September 2016))
*"Bring it bitches, let's go. Debate me. I dare you to fucking debate me."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
16 February 2017 (stream with Sargon of Akkad)
*"I've stopped watching a lot of mainstream outlets because I'm like I just know they're gonna lie so why bother go here?"The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*" was interviewing Marine Le Pen for the first time on the BBC and he's like 'I'm sorry, we know what you're about to hear is shocking and the BBC wants to apologise for anything you might hear that will disturb you. Marine Le Pen, what will you have to say?' 'Uh, France should be for French people.' 'Shocking' [laughs] Like what the fuck? They act like The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"My parents are both immigrants. One from a communist regime, the other one from a Muslim occupation. I think I understand the benefits of the Anglo-Saxon tradition, I'll tell you that."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"When it comes to the Cultural Marxism thing, I don't know that it arose out of nothing."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"Look, it's as simple as this. If you're white, don't you dare oppose your own dispossession."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"Virtue signalling is when you basically say something to make yourself look good. It comes at a very cheap cost to you to say like 'I care about all Muslims' but you don't actually mean it. You're not actually gonna go do anything."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"I do not believe women are oppressed in America by any degree."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017) ... "I would argue that progress has been made to the maximum degree of human biology."The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
24 February 2017 (Q&A video)
*"/our guy/"JonTron 2017 Q&A - End of World Edition! - JonTronShow (Feb 24, 2017) (at 4:22, Jafari says "our guy" and uses his fingers to denote the "/" symbol. On /pol/, "/our guy/" means someone who holds alt-right or "red pilled" political beliefs.Is He /Our Guy/? - Know Your Meme Jafari has admitted he has "occasionally" browsed /pol/.)The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"Thanks goys"JonTron 2017 Q&A - End of World Edition! - JonTronShow (Feb 24, 2017) (at 10:21, the phrase "thanks goys!!!" is briefly shown on the video. The length of time the phrase was shown indicates this was either a subtle antisemitic dog whistle or politically incorrect trolling.)
13 March 2017 (debate with Destiny)
*"I think human beings are at the core tribal and they tend to want to stick to their own. I think that's completely natural, completely normal."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"Trump is a reaction to the retarded identity politics of the last, at least the last, four years."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"We don't need to take immigrants from incompatible places."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"Nobody wants to become a minority in their own country."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"I think that there's something to be said for preserving a culture, giving a nation a continuity..."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"I do think race influences culture. I do, I think it does."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
*"The Black Lives Matter movement doesn't disavow violence."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
(Note: this is false.)'Black Lives Matter': a movement that defies definition - Reuters (15 July 2016)
*"RIP, my career."Debating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017)
Examples of doublethink
*"There's nothing wrong with diversity."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) / "Like you were saying about diversity, I mean like, what does it just mean less white people?"The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
*"To be honest with you, if people started going around saying like the 'white community', that'd be fucking weird too."Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) / "What is so offensive about white people saying they'd like to preserve their demographic majority?"
*"What I care about is facts, reason and evidence. So if you come at me and you say something that's baseless, that's what pisses me off."JonTron 2017 Q&A - End of World Edition! - JonTronShow (Feb 24, 2017) / "Wealthy blacks also commit more crime than poor whites, that's a fact. Yeah, look it up."
==Twitter==
In response to tweet that "[c]ulture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies",https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/840980755236999169 Jafari wrote:
In response to Chris Maldonado's tweet that "Steve King's "baby" premise is dumb, but I do find it odd that multiculturalism is really only being championed in white majority nations",https://twitter.com/ChrisRGun/status/841051429993299968 Jafari wrote:
Other tweets
* "OPPRESSION TEST: Can you drive to McDonalds not in hijab and get biggest Big Mac value meal? If yes: Not oppressed" (24 January 2017)https://twitter.com/JonTronShow/status/823855322439811073
* "You're making an appeal to emotion.Bcuz [sic] 'Jazz and Pad Thai are sweet' does not mean a country should commit demographic suicide." (12 March 2017)Jon Jafari (Twitter, 12 Mar 2017)
* "What I'm simply saying is, if being a minority is such a great thing, why does no one else seem to want to be it?" (12 March 2017)https://twitter.com/JonTronShow/status/841117434509688832
== In closing and in irony==
Jafari is himself half-IranianDebating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017) and has a Muslim grandmother.The Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017) It's a true testament to multiculturalism's progress that someone categorized as non-white by white nationalists and Jafari himselfDebating JonTron - Destiny (March 13, 2017) can now freely defend white nationalism.
Jafari has provided a cautionary tale in how alarmingly effective alt-right propaganda has become in recent years, especially considering Jafari is someone who has done the following: 
* Voted for Barack Obama twicePunished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
* Used to support Bernie SandersPunished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
* Happily uses a person's preferred pronounsPunished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
* Voted in favor of same-sex marriageThe Beautiful Destruction of the Mainstream Media #PewDieGate - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (16 February, 2017)
* Is the child of two immigrantsMy Statement: JonTronShow (Mar 19, 2017)
* Finds Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop ridiculous and a scam,Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop — JonTron Show thinks Dan Aykroyd’s crystal skull vodka is complete nonsense and called him out on ‘dragging the Navajo into this’,Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Skull Vodka — JonTron Show called a fraud, and tore the film adaptation of Jack Chick's "Dark Dungeons" to shreds.Dark Dungeons — JonTron Show In other words, normal stuff you wouldn’t expect an alt-right supporter to endorse.
== See also ==
*Sargon of Akkad, a bud of Jafari's
*Stefan Molyneux: Jafari watches his videos,Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017) and he is likely the person who "redpilled" Jon
*Tucker Carlson, Jafari is a fanhttps://twitter.com/JonTronShow/status/836848227345395712Punished Shitposting with #JonTron - Sargon of Akkad Livestreams (27 January, 2017)
== External links ==
*The Problem with JonTron: An article on Jafari's misogynistic, racist, and ableist behavior before going full alt-right.
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:Alt-right
Category:Anti-Christian bigots
Category:Antifeminism
Category:Antisemites
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Denialists
Category:Fascists
Category:Gamergate
Category:Internalized discrimination
Category:Iranians
Category:Islamophobes
Category:Leftists who turned right with age
Category:Living people
Category:Neo-Nazis
Category:Pseudohistory promoters
Category:Racists
Category:Sexists
Category:Trolls
Category:Video games
Category:YouTube
Category:Great Replacement conspiracy theorists