In the rich history of right-wing meltdowns, James O’Keefe has earned himself a place among the greats, Fever Dreams host Kelly Weill argues on this week’s podcast.
After resigning from his activist undercover video operation, Project Veritas, O’Keefe posted a 45-minute opus from his now former office, seamlessly transitioning from grievances against his own board to a number of non-sequiturs about things like strawberry ice cream.
“It’s a really strange kind of blockbuster in the canon of right-wing meltdown videos, because he is trying to portray himself as an embattled journalist on his way out,” Weill said.
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“He says things about journalists, like, ‘We’re looking through the stories the powerful people don’t want us to look into’—but it doesn't really look like he’s looking outward so much as he is casting the blame within his own organization.”
Near the end of his speech, O’Keefe actually breaks down in tears—and begins to glisten with noticeable sweat.
“I mean, this guy is sweating and reaching Marco Rubio levels of guzzling water,” co-host Will Sommer adds.
Then, Fever Dreams investigates the origins of a new right-wing anti-war coalition that has recently emerged, largely as an offshoot of the rapidly changing, more radical Libertarian Party, which is now “in the hands of some absolute racist nuts,” according to Sommer.
They’re also behind a recent anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., which was attended by neo-Nazi leaders and all manner of far-right internet personalities.
In addition, Sommer discusses his recently released book on QAnon, Trust the Plan, and how the conspiracy has developed and morphed over the last half-decade.
“Since I started writing, we had the 2020 election and this kind of conspiratorial aspect of it—I think [these conspiracies] have become much more mainstream within the GOP, and QAnon played a big role in that,” Sommer said. “I’d also say that Donald Trump has endorsed QAnon in a way that I never would’ve imagined.”
Listen, and subscribe, to Fever Dreams on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
