The Matt Walsh sized elephant in the room
The first rule of Matt Walsh is that you do not talk about Matt Walsh. The second rule of Matt Walsh is to remind yourself of the first. So why am I talking about Matt Walsh? Partly because he is the subject of a symposium talk I am giving in mid-October, and partly to highlight how feeding the troll in the room is never a good idea. I have listened to many hours of his shows, seen What is a Woman?, and read much of his Daily Wire output, and the one singular thing that stands out is that engaging with him in any way only feeds his work. Hence rule number one. He does not care if you agree with him, loves it when you disagree with him, and he shamelessly attacks anyone who goes on the offensive against him, even if they are simply standing up against Matt’s own attacks. I want to explore why he matters in the overarching trans discourse, and highlight that the only way to overcome him is to starve him of the oxygen of publicity.
Walsh thrives on being called out, indeed he makes his stock trade to highlight and hector anyone, even his own followers, who says he is wrong. In some senses he is a darkly comedic broadcaster who sells anti-left agendas alongside pro-alien merch, deadpan about the whole thing. Even his reading of his show’s sponsors comes across as half-sincere/half-mocking, almost as if he has enough self-awareness to know it is one great shill. Except, if you treat him as a huckster and shill you are completely misreading his personal intentions. He genuinely believes that he is on a god given mission to save America, that his Catholic beliefs are the only rationality, and he will stop at nothing to smash gender ideology as he sees it. He is dangerous in the same way any zealot is, namely facts never get in the way of a good narrative.
And there is no point in telling him this, because it simply fuels his show and drives audiences to him. YouTube kicked him off the platform due to transphobia, and since then his X account has hosted his daily show. He thrives on the controversy, thrives on telling us all that we are morally corrupted contemptibles, and that the only way to moral redemption is through him, PragerU, and Jordan Peterson. A wiser triptych you will never see. Or at least that is the message he keeps pushing, along with the subscriptions to the Daily Wire, the merch, the right-wing led sponsors, and the dark money funnelled into the Daily Wire itself. He is not a man alone, but he likes to promote himself as the fisherman and barbequing troubadour to the right wing disenfranchised masses. An honest family man with six kids and a fat wallet.
What makes him dangerous is that many of his ideas and talk points have drifted into the “respectable” right wing media. Gender ideology as a concept was not his invention, but he was an early champion of the cause. His push against anything non-Judeo Chrisian, heterosexual, and married with kids led him to demonize trans folk, and from that point many of his followers and friends of his followers were exposed to his version of this trope. You see it on X every time you talk about trans rights, you see it in the mainstream press when they hector trans kids. He was not the messiah, but he sure has been a very naughty boy spreading anti-trans hate.
Yes, you say, but why ignore him, why not go on the offensive and tear him down? Because we have already tried that, and failed. Walsh simply does not care about being called a transphobe; indeed, he revels in being called transphobe of the year. It gives him oxygen, it gives him coverage, and it makes him ideologically stronger. Every time the media talks about him he gains more viewers and followers, every time his voice is heard people want to listen. Some because they agree, others because they are curious. And in curiosity they still add clicks and likes and shares, which proves to Walsh that he is doing something right.
Then you say, what about free speech? Surely Walsh is using his freedom of speech to say whatever he believes, and you would be correct. However, freedom of speech is not freedom from critique, freedom from consequence of that speech, and freedom to be ignored by the rest of humanity. Like all right-wing ideologues he needs an audience to thrive, and without his Sweet Baby Gang he would wither on the vine. He needs an audience to perform to, without which he is a late 30s dad with six kids and a Catholic complex.
Now, Walsh will happily speak on a soapbox at speakers corner if it gave him airtime on TikTok if it came to it. He is not above using any public space to promote his agenda, and because he is impossible to shame the only way to shut him out is to simply ignore him. Yes, there will be those who will still listen to him, but without press coverage and press gossip he will find it harder to attract that audience in the first place. The first rule of Matt Walsh is there for a reason, because if you feed a troll with attention, contention, and engagement it will only make it bolder. I vehemently disagree with him on every point, but stating that to his face makes no difference. Ignoring him is a far better use of my time, and I argue everyone else’s.
