ormer favourite of a LOT of people on the left. Looks like such an obvious grifter in hindsight.
Was he? By my recollection pretty much everyone thought he was a grifter trying to sell self-help books that said leftish stuff and had a bit of following. He was promoted by some media types but, from what I can recall at least, very few people really had anything positive to say. At best he was largely considered as a relatively harmless weirdo who pivoted to the right because he lost his audience on the left and then all these allegations gained prominence.
The threads in LUK from that era are really quite funny, there's like two people who express anything positive about Brand:
Maybe I'm biased because I've always thought he was knob but I don't remember him being anything more than an obvious grifter who caught a few baby-leftists and big name interviews.
Honestly I can't really remember how big he was in comparison to people now, but big and influential enough to get Ed Milliband have an interview with him on the eve of the election in 2015.
Edit: he also had a huge audience on YouTube before his pivot to the right. Like the guy was definitely a big deal back then.
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u/PorteanLibSoc - Starmer is just one more tory PM2d agoedited 2d ago
Yeah, I don't really remember Milliband as being the darling of the left in 2015 either tbh.
Like Brand had some clout at one point - no doubt about that. But I don't remember him being particularly beloved by the left beyond some kids on the soft-left liking him. I could be wrong about that but it's not like he was being shared in far left circles as the great new hope!
Don't get me wrong, the left can have monsters too - I just don't think Brand's ours any more than he's the right's beast. He always seemed primarily out for himself from what I can recall.
he was more particularly darling of the 'spiritual' crowd ime. who tend to get laughed off. like, people laugh at david icke. and imo people underestimate the level of threat there.
I think he was most popular with like, teenagers, particularly teenage girls, who were like, getting interested in politics for the first time. He was very good at dropping soundbites. His whole "When I was poor they said I was bitter now I'm rich they say I'm a hypocrite... I'm starting to think they just don't wanna talk about inequality" used to do significant rounds on tumblr.
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u/Beetlebob1848 Soc Dem 2d ago edited 2d ago
Former favourite of a LOT of people on the left. Looks like such an obvious grifter in hindsight.
Edit: I was wrong about the book quote! It was the other way around, Brand was calling OJ Orwell.