Dave Smith (comedian) explained

Dave Smith
Birth Name:David Smith
Birth Date:April 20, 1983
Birth Place:New York City, New York, U.S.
Party:Libertarian[1] [2]
Otherparty:Mises Caucus
Occupation:Comedian
Spouse:Lauren Smith
Children:2

David Smith (born April 20, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and libertarian political commentator.[3] [4] [5] He has frequently appeared on Fox News Channel's Kennedy[6] [7] and The Greg Gutfeld Show.[8] [9] [10] Additionally he was a recurring panelist on CNN's S.E. Cupp: Unfiltered.[11]

Smith is a member of the Mises Caucus of the Libertarian Party. Smith hosts the libertarian podcast Part of the Problem. Smith has been noted as a strong critic of COVID-19 policies such as vaccine passports.

Career

In 2013, Smith was featured as one of the New Faces at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He was a featured performer on the New York Comedy Festival's "New York's Funniest" showcase in 2014 and 2015.[12]

He hosts the Part of the Problem podcast and cohosts the comedy podcast Legion of Skanks.[13] [14] According to PorcFest, Part of the Problem is one of the top two libertarian podcasts in the world.[15] On Part of the Problem, Smith has interviewed political figures such as Vivek Ramaswamy[16] and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Smith has also made appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and Timcast.[17] [18]

On September 11 2017, Smith released his first comedy special, Libertas.

He was the MC for FreedomFest, a libertarian festival, in 2021,[19] and a featured speaker there in 2022. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Smith was running the Libertarian Party's social media, but he has denied this saying that he only "helped with the Twitter".[20]

Smith considered running in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries but ultimately decided against it.[21] He also declined to run as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vice presidential candidate, citing Kennedy's support for Israel in its war in Gaza. Smith spoke at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.[22]

Political views

Smith is a member of the Mises Caucus of the Libertarian Party.[23] [24] [25] Smith said in a 2017 Reason interview that he "became a libertarian through the Ron Paul movement".[26] He has opposed what he sees as big tech hegemony, describing it as "the biggest threat to liberty" aside from the "tyranny of COVID-19".[27] He believes vaccine mandates are an infringement of personal liberty[28] and told Reason in 2021 that he did not plan to vaccinate himself or his child against COVID-19.[29] Smith defended the Libertarian Party of Kentucky when it criticized proposed vaccine passports by comparing them to yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear.[30] Reason described him as "a vocal opponent of wokeness and political correctness". An admirer of the anarcho-capitalist economist Murray Rothbard, he told Reason that like Rothbard he would abolish government if he could.[31]

Smith has been noted for interviews and debates with far-right figures such as Gavin McInnes,[32] Nick Fuentes, Richard Spencer, and Christopher Cantwell.[33] [34] Smith has called Fuentes a "fellow traveler", according to the SPLC.[35] In 2021, The New Republic called Smith "a Nazi sympathizer". The SPLC noted that Smith is Jewish and has disagreed with far-right figures on the creation of a white ethnostate and the alt-right's tactics. Debating with Fuentes, the SPLC said, Smith argued for "hard-right libertarian viewpoints". In an interview with Nick Gillespie, Smith defended his friendliness towards alt-right figures saying "People who listen to my podcasts have no doubt about where I stand on all of these issues" and said that his libertarian beliefs are "the antithesis of National Socialism."

Smith has said he will not support the 2024 Libertarian Party nominee, Chase Oliver, saying that he did not do enough to fight COVID-19 policies such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates.[36] Smith had the same criticism for the party's 2020 nominee, Jo Jorgensen.

Personal life

According to Smith, he was raised in Brooklyn, New York by his single mother. Smith has two children with his wife, Lauren.[37] He is Jewish and has stated that he is the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor.[38]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Libertarian Presidential Candidates Champion 'Open Borders'. February 26, 2020.
  2. Web site: Libertarian Party Rebuffs Mises Uprising. July 4, 2018.
  3. Web site: Gillespie . Nick . Weissmueller . Zach . June 20, 2022 . Dave Smith: Comedian, Podcaster…Presidential Candidate? . 30 June 2022 . .
  4. Web site: September 19, 2019 . What Is the Ideal Strategy for the Libertarian Party? A Soho Forum Debate . Reason.com.
  5. Web site: Cleary . Tom . 2021-04-27 . Comedian Slams Vaccine Passports on Joe Rogan's Podcast [WATCH] ]. 2021-07-24 . . en-US.
  6. Web site: Kennedy: Vaping ban is a 'knee-jerk, nanny state' reaction . 2021-07-24 . . January 21, 2020 . en.
  7. Web site: 'Kennedy' panel flips the political script in 'Party Swap' game . Fox Business. November 13, 2020 .
  8. Web site: Cleary . Tom . April 27, 2021 . Comedian Slams Vaccine Passports on Joe Rogan's Podcast [WATCH] ]. Heavy.com.
  9. Web site: Halftime Report: A shout out to 'Red Eye' fans . Fox News. September 12, 2017 .
  10. Web site: Gutfeld: NBC decides to not air 2022 Golden Globes over lack of diversity. . May 12, 2021.
  11. Web site: Page . Nicholas . December 21, 2017 . S.E. Cupp Eviscerates Ex-Obama Advisor Ben Rhodes for Wishing Death on GOP Foes: 'Try Therapy' . Mediaite.
  12. Web site: Home. Dave Smith.
  13. Web site: September 8, 2017 . Libertarian Comedian Dave Smith on the Alt-Right, Christopher Cantwell, and How the Left 'Went Off the Rails' . Reason.com.
  14. Web site: October 31, 2016 . Nick Gillespie on Libertarianism, Why Gary Johnson Is a Success, Trump, Clinton, and Millennials . Reason.com.
  15. Web site: Carroll . William . June 28, 2021 . Free Staters' Porcfest draws a capacity crowd . The Conway Daily Sun.
  16. News: Frevele . Jamie . November 8, 2023 . 'You're the Wokest Out of Everybody!' Ramaswamy and Comic Dave Smith Attack DeSantis For Crackdown on Anti-Israel Speech . June 19, 2024 . Mediaite.
  17. Web site: Gipson . Johnell . November 15, 2020 . Joe Rogan Questions How America Will Improve With Joe Biden as President — 'Things Aren't Going To Change for the Better With Him' . cheatsheet.com.
  18. Web site: Carman . Ashley . April 27, 2021 . Spotify is okay with Joe Rogan's anti-vaccine remarks . The Verge.
  19. Web site: Wargo . Abby . July 21, 2021 . Gov. Noem, Dennis Quaid headline first night of FreedomFest . Rapid City Journal.
  20. A Response to the S.P.L.C . Part of the Problem . GaS Digital Network . Dave Smith . July 17, 2022 . 29:09 . June 20, 2024 . "I don't run the party's social media. That's just not true. I've helped with the Twitter. That's it. I don't even run the Twitter. Most of the tweets aren't from me.".
  21. News: Weigel . David . February 9, 2024 . Libertarians could supercharge RFK Jr's campaign. But can he prove he's one of them? . June 19, 2024 . Semafor.
  22. Web site: Become Ungovernable . 2024-04-22 . 2024 Libertarian National Convention . en-US.
  23. Web site: Weissmueller . Zach . Gillespie . Nick . Thompson . Danielle . 2022-06-15 . Inside the Mises Caucus Takeover of the Libertarian Party . 2023-05-27 . Reason.com . en-US.
  24. Web site: Welch . Matt . 2018-07-04 . Libertarian Party Rebuffs Mises Uprising . 2022-12-24 . . en-US.
  25. Web site: July 13, 2018 . Tom Woods, Dave Smith, and Jason Stapleton Join the Libertarian Party . The Libertarian Republic.
  26. Web site: 2017-09-08 . Libertarian Comedian Dave Smith on the Alt-Right, Christopher Cantwell, and How the Left 'Went Off the Rails' . 2023-05-16 . Reason.com . en-US.
  27. Web site: Gillespie . Nick . July 28, 2022 . Dave Smith: Libertarians vs. Big Tech, Big Government, and…Other Libertarians . .
  28. Web site: Farivar . Masood . August 4, 2021 . Why Some Libertarians Support Vaccine Mandates . 2022-12-24 . . en.
  29. Web site: Amore . Samson . April 27, 2021 . Joe Rogan Slammed for 'Deeply Irresponsible' Anti-Vaccine Comments . The Wrap.
  30. Web site: KY Libertarian party bashed for comparing vaccine passport to Jewish Holocaust badges . kentucky.com.
  31. Web site: Weissmueller . Zach . July 25, 2022 . Should Libertarians Root for a National Divorce? . 10 August 2022 . .
  32. Web site: Horowitz . Justin . 2022-12-20 . Extremists, bigots, and conspiracy theorists: YouTuber Tim Pool's 2022 guests in review . 2022-12-21 . . "Smith is connected to white nationalist Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes and appeared on Pool's show in September.".
  33. Simons. Seth. 2021-02-09. The Comedy Industry Has a Big Alt-Right Problem. 2022-07-18. The New Republic. "In 2017, Dave Smith used a TGMS guest-hosting spot to interview Richard Spencer and Christopher Cantwell, giving both a friendly platform to lay out their vision for a white ethnostate.".
  34. Web site: Newton. Creede. 2022-05-22. Mises Caucus: Could It Sway the Libertarian Party to the Hard Right?. 2022-07-18. Southern Poverty Law Center. "Smith ... has long invited extremists and hard right and fringe figuresincluding HotepJesuson his podcast, “Part of the Problem” (PotP).".
  35. Web site: Newton . Creede . July 13, 2022 . Andrew Yang To Speak Alongside Far-right Figures at 'FreedomFest' . 2023-05-15 . Southern Poverty Law Center . en.
  36. News: Weissmueller . Zach . June 6, 2024 . A Power Struggle Consumes the Libertarian Party . Reason.
  37. ComicDaveSmith . 1453158187708846084 . Happy anniversary to my beautiful wife, Lauren. The best thing I ever did in my life was marry her and it's not even close. She gave me two beautiful babies and a beautiful life. No matter what I do I will never be able to repay her, but I will spend the rest of my life trying..
  38. How Can The Libertarian Party Effect Real Change? . Reason . Reason Foundation . The Soho Forum . September 20, 2019 . 1:13:42 . June 14, 2024.

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