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Drug Legalization

Why Is Anyone Still Surprised That a Fox News Libertarian Is OK With Psychedelics?

The millennial news site called them hypocrites, but Greg Gutfeld and Kat Timpf have a long history of advocating drug legalization.

Robby Soave | 8.8.2022 5:15 PM

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Kat Timpf on the Gutfeld show | Screenshot via YouTube
Kat Timpf on the Gutfeld show. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Mic is a millennials-focused news website. In its decade of existence, it has endured pivot after pivot: first prioritizing progressive policy coverage, then expanding into lifestyle and culture coverage, and ultimately focusing on video content for social media optimization. After Facebook stopped rewarding Upworthy-style emotional manipulation and canceled a deal with the company in 2018, Mic cratered, laying off most of its staff.

But the site still exists; it has not yet "pivoted to dust." The current iteration is clearly trying to recapture some of its former glory by punching above its own weight and has thus found an unsurprising target: Fox News. Mic writer Rafi Schwartz recently lambasted Fox hosts Greg Gutfeld and Katherine Timpf for condoning the recreational use of ayahuasca after Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers admitted to using—and loving—the drug. Schwartz found it odd that Fox News was suddenly "on board with ayahuasca" and implied that the hosts were only approving of it for Rodgers, a "Trump-leaning himbo" as Schwartz describes him (misspelling his name in the process).

Schwartz is framing this as an example of hypocrisy, giving readers the impression that the Fox News duo would have otherwise criticized drug use if the subject were anyone else but are excusing it in this case because Rodgers is a quasi-sympathetic figure on the right.

But this framing is wildly inaccurate and unfair. Gutfeld (who hosts Gutfeld!, one of the most watched late-night shows in all of television) and Timpf (now the top female talent on late-night television following Samantha Bee's cancelation) have long described themselves as libertarians on drug issues. (Disclaimer: I appear frequently on Fox News, including on the Gutfeld! program, as do other Reason staffers.) Both have expressed the view that even heroin could be legalized. Timpf has written in favor of legalizing marijuana and magic mushrooms.

"I have spoken out against the War on Drugs consistently and repeatedly throughout my entire career—on television, in columns and speeches, as well as on social media," Timpf told Reason in an email. "I have repeatedly said that no drug should be illegal, and I have never said the opposite. This is also far from the first time that I have publicly discussed the potential mental-health benefits of psychedelic drugs."

Schwartz also attacked Timpf for describing ayahuasca as "not like a party drug," as if she was trying to rationalize some unbalanced stance, writing, "It's important to note that there's a fair amount of hypocrisy in Timpf's ayahuasca enthusiasm, and particularly her assertion that it's okay since it's 'not like a party drug'—as if other substances that could be easily written off as such don't also have their own medicinal, psychological, and cultural benefits (and even if they didn't, who cares? Don't be a narc)."

"All it took was a Trump-supporting handsome white guy multimillionaire athlete to get the ball rolling," Schwartz concluded. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Timpf's views are neither hypocritical nor newly-discovered nor due to Trump: She has long advocated legalizing all drugs, including both ayahuasca and "party drugs."

"To accuse me of hypocrisy given my perfect record of consistency on this issue is absurd," wrote Timpf.

Timpf notes that she raised these issues with Schwartz—tagging him on Twitter—but several days later, he has not responded or corrected the piece.

Writers who want to play media commentator should at least be able to fairly describe the ideologies of the personalities they are scrutinizing. Whatever one thinks of Fox News, it's undeniable that Gutfeld, Timpf, and Fox Business' Kennedy are consistent supporters of drug legalization. Libertarians should be glad that this view has powerful advocates on the channel—advocates that continue to rightly press President Joe Biden to de-escalate the war on drugs.

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NEXT: The Inflation Reduction Act Won't Meaningfully Address the Budget Deficit

Robby Soave is a senior editor at Reason.

Drug LegalizationPsychedelicsFox NewsDrug PolicyMedia CriticismLibertarianism
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  1. Quo Usque Tandem   3 years ago

    "Progressive" reporting: Just throw some shit against the wall and see if it sticks, m'kay?

  2. Dillinger   3 years ago

    >>Writers who want to play media commentator should

    do their fucking homework like the rest of us.

    1. n00bdragon   3 years ago

      The irony Robby Soave writing those words in that order is incredible.

  3. BestUsedCarSales   3 years ago

    They should be focusing more on the Koch's anti-immigrant agenda. That's what the news tells me.

    1. Brandybuck   3 years ago

      Huh? What Koch anti-immigrant agenda? We talking about the same Koch?

      1. BestUsedCarSales   3 years ago

        I'm assured the Koch's are anti-everything the left wants.

  4. Nardz   3 years ago

    Remember: Robby is the safest option to interview Fauci.
    From Fauci's perspective.

  5. rbike   3 years ago

    Robby ==> pot meet kettle. Attack some no name loser site and keep your leftist cred.

    1. Butler T. Reynolds   3 years ago

      Trumpkins don't know the left from the right.

      1. 5.56   3 years ago

        Begs the question what a “Trumpkin” is. Depending on your response, I may be able to give you an example of what an “abysmally retarded lefty shill” is.

  6. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

    Imagine a universe where Greg Gutfeld and Kat Timpf are generally regarded by the establishment left as old-fashioned conservatives.

    Can you imagine what an extremist clown-world that would be?

    ...oh wait.

    1. Inquisitive Squirrel   3 years ago

      You got me laughing with that one. Cheers!

  7. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

    Obviously have never watched Gutfeld in any of his shows, or read any of his numerous books or columns or listened to his radio shows and interviews. Fuck, he used to argue this with O'Reilly back in the Bush years all the time. You should really hear him go off on nicotine scolds (which a surprising number of 'pro-drug' progressives actually support). Yes, he's gotten a little more conservative in his rhetoric, but as he will tell you, it's more a reaction to the craziness from the left than any actual embracing of moral conservativism. He also pokes fun at both sides on his show ( and himself and his close friends).

    1. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

      Hell, when he hosted Red-Eye he even went after his mother and wife more than once. Because Gutfeld really doesn't give a damn if it gets a laugh. And obviously he's doing something right based on his ratings (which I suspect is why Mic is going after him, because he's getting better ratings in the Millennial age groups than the other late night hosts, and they might stop drinking the Kool-Aide if they listen to him.

      1. Nardz   3 years ago

        Gutfeld is the second funniest political commenter out there.
        The funniest is, of course, Trump.

        Sometimes I just miss how he'd say Chy-na...

        1. R Mac   3 years ago

          You see the video of him from Saturday, describing how he overpowered the secret service agents and grabbed the steering wheel? Top notch.

  8. RoninX   3 years ago

    I'll take Kat Timpf any day over Samantha Bee.

    1. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

      I haven't decided if she is attractive or not. Definitely more than Samantha Bee, but that's almost as bad as comparing her to Lena Dunham. But her arms are way to damn skinny.

      1. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

        And I normally go for waifish girls.

        1. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

          She's hot, but looks like you could accidentally break her arm just shaking hands. Too fragile.

      2. Nardz   3 years ago

        Too skinny, but pretty.
        Above average. 6-7 range.

      3. Ted   3 years ago

        As much as I hate that evil cunt Samantha Bee, she’s still a thousand times more attractive than Lena Dunham.

        https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/07/31/actress-lena-dunham-overruling-of-roe-v-wade-one-of-the-darkest-days-of-my-life/

        Click the link and scroll down……. If you dare.

        1. Tuberculosis Oxcart   3 years ago

          Jesus Christ. You did warn me but god damn please delete that link. Absolutely horrifying.

          1. Ersatz   3 years ago

            Ha! same reaction here...!
            what a manatee. Oy-veh! my eyes! That is textbook case for fat shaming.

        2. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

          Yes, but literally everyone is more attractive than Lena Dunham. Samantha Bee is a solid 3.

        3. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

          God she is not aging well, and there wasn't much to start with. I think I'll show that picture to my son before his next date, so I don't have to worry about if he has a condom or not.

        4. Malvolio   3 years ago

          Jesus, she looks like the obese woman from the Dawn of the Dead remake. Why is her skin mottled-gray like that? That cannot be a healthy person.

    2. Stuck in California   3 years ago

      I've never heard of Kat Timpf. Saw one bit of Samatha Bee and all it seemed was really bitter TDS. Two minutes was more than enough.

      However, based on the quick web image search, definitely Kat Timpf over Samantha Bee. Does the hottie nerd girl look, and seems to have a proper sense of humor.

    3. Libertariantranslator   3 years ago

      Never heard of either one. Izzis all intellectual slumming has to offer?

      1. R Mac   3 years ago

        Nobody cares Hank.

      2. Gaear Grimsrud   3 years ago

        I think what we all need to remember is that if it weren't for the Libertarian Party's 1974 convention we'd still be living under the Comstock Act.

        1. R Mac   3 years ago

          Those were the days!

  9. Think It Through   3 years ago

    Some random website guy doesn't know what Fox News personalities actually say or stand for?

    Dog bites man.

    1. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

      I mean it would only take a minute on Google to see the plethora of opinions Gutfeld has given on this over the decades he's been doing political commentary, but hey, that's to much work.

      1. Stuck in California   3 years ago

        Or, he could just watch that segment that he was complaining about and see that it is COMEDY. Like, obviously, unreservedly, a comedy show with a round table of people making jokes.

        Geez, these idiots at Mic might as well sit in the front row at the Laugh Factory and keep telling the guy on stage "Nuh uhh! You didn't really do that."

  10. Libertariantranslator   3 years ago

    Ignorance is the strength of superstitious Christiano-prohibitionists. You can chew coca leave until lockjaw with never the tiniest thrill. Hoasca leaves ditto, and a quart of strong fresh tea has no noticeable effect unless you can find and add a MAO inhibitor. Every magazine in America shrieked that LSD led to defenestration and 17 other forms of suicide or permanent disability. That too was a pack of lies, but banning it made the lies difficult to expose. Only by making truth illegal can totalitarian bans on production and trade persist long enough to wreck an economy.

    1. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

      Wow Hank. That's certainly a... post.

      1. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

        I think I need a translator for libertariantranslator. Sqrsly is more cognitive than that gibberish.

        1. R Mac   3 years ago

          It’s the old crank Hank Phillips.

          https://libertariantranslator.wordpress.com/who-is-hank-phillips/

          1. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

            That's got to be an old photo, because Hank reads like he's 90.

            1. R Mac   3 years ago

              Probably him in’74.

              1. Stuck in California   3 years ago

                Yeah, when he was 25 years old.

          2. Overt   3 years ago

            Notice how he crammed himself in the corner of a room, just so, so that he could get that shitty photograph with his head level with an Ayn Rand book.

            1. R Mac   3 years ago

              Ha! I never noticed that. Or the fact that he’s using a garage shelf as a bookcase. Seems the libertarian translator business isn’t very financially rewarding.

          3. soldiermedic76   3 years ago

            Fuck, did he proofread that before posting it? The sentence syntax is absolutely horrendous on that page. It's full of incomplete thoughts, smashed together, with no appearance of rhyme nor reason. If he's seeking work as a translator, it may behoove him to at least show some semblance of basic English proficiency.

  11. Vesicant   3 years ago

    If "fingers on a blackboard" Timpf is using psychedelics, she's obviously in no condition to know what she said or believes at any given point in time.

    1. R Mac   3 years ago

      That’s not how it works dumbass.

    2. Mother's Lament   3 years ago

      Someone obviously didn't try shrooms as a twenty-something.

    3. Terran   3 years ago

      I think you came to the wrong website.

      1. Cloudbuster   3 years ago

        Yes, you should only come here if you have exactly the correct, authorized opinions. No contrary opinions welcomed!

  12. But SkyNet is a Private Company   3 years ago

    This is too rich , “ Fox News is suddenly on board with Aushuasca”. As if Fox News has an official stance. As if everyone on Fox News has the same views, as if Gutfeld and Tucker and Cavuto all agree on anything.

    I guess when you are used to MSNBC and CNN, where all the “talent” does in fact sing the same songs out of the same hymnal 24/7, it’s a bit jarring

  13. Roberta   3 years ago

    See, the thing is, radical libertarians aren't supposed to exist.

  14. mulch   3 years ago

    Mmmmm....Kat Timpf

    1. Cloudbuster   3 years ago

      Careful. That's seen more dick than a boy's locker room urinal.

  15. Daddyhill   3 years ago

    I think Charles Koch opposes anything that might cut into his fat profits. Whether something is coming from the left or the right matters far less to him than his bank accounts and the political influence he can buy with all that bread.

    1. Butler T. Reynolds   3 years ago

      I don't decide if you sound more like Bernie, Warren, or AOC.

  16. R Mac   3 years ago

    Speaking of Gutfeld, Nick’s on tonight!

    1. Think It Through   3 years ago

      What an amazing coincidence that this article on Gutfeld and Timpf appears on the same day Gillespie is a panelist. What are the odds??!

  17. Jerry B.   3 years ago

    If Fox News commentators support ending the War on Drugs, then all Democrats should call for an escalation.

  18. Mickey Rat   3 years ago

    Unprofessional, lazy, racist progressive journalist assumes what the positions of conservatives should be and argues against that rather than what their easily found out history indicates.

    Dog bites man story.

  19. Bubba Jones   3 years ago

    A hot take reaction to an article on a dying site?

    wut?

  20. Cloudbuster   3 years ago

    Leftist writer mischaracterizes positions of those to the right of him. Hmm, must be a day ending in Y. Why is this news?

    Meanwhile, I'm embarrassed to consider Timpf and Gutfeld on the right. Their "cool kid conservatism" of "Yeah, we're politically conservative, but we drink and drug and whore around like crazy" turns me off. Timpf is lucky she just got married. She was a couple years, a couple boxes of wine and a handful of one-night stands away from being a bitter post-wall cat lady.

    Though Timpf admitted to being unsure about Friscia after meeting him on Raya — because he "seemed so clean-cut" compared to her previous boyfriends — she revealed how he has changed her perspective on love.

    Translation: She was having a harder and harder time getting plowed by bad boy Chads and realized she better grab herself a safe Beta before it was too late.

    1. cravinbob   3 years ago

      Are you trying to make a point? Fail. Give up.

  21. TJJ2000   3 years ago

    Frankly; I don't care how much a hypocrite one has to be to support the USA (as per the U.S. Constitution) which never gave the 'feds' any authority to regulate drugs. Just so long as the USA (as per the U.S. Constitution) persists.

  22. Liberty Lover   3 years ago

    Biggest news story of the day, Biden Administration goes after previous President for first time in US history. They use a judge magistrate rather than a Level 3 federal, judge, a juldge reprimaned for fake fisa warrants, and a political partisan. Even Alan Dershowitz a liberal constitutional lawyer and a Democrat that voted against Trump twice, calls it a threat to the Constitution, and a threat to democracy. Reason, the Biden excuse maker totally ignores the story, just like they ignore the Hunter Biden laptop, Ashley Biden's diary, and the Durham investigation
    Libertariannews.org. called Reason a bunch of communist and removed them from their news aggregator, and I can certainly see why.

  23. Liberty Lover   3 years ago

    Biggest news story of the day, Biden Administration goes after previous President for first time in US history. They use a judge magistrate rather than a Level 3 federal, judge, a juldge reprimaned for fake fisa warrants, and a political partisan. Even Alan Dershowitz a liberal constitutional lawyer and a Democrat that voted against Trump twice, calls it a threat to the Constitution, and a threat to democracy. Reason, the Biden excuse maker totally ignores the story, just like they ignore the Hunter Biden laptop, Ashley Biden's diary, and the Durham investigation
    Libertariannews.org. called Reason a bunch of communist and removed them from their news aggregator, and I can certainly see why.
    Lie and ignore, line

  24. novalvesprings   3 years ago

    I love Kat. She, like myself, is a fellow Detroiter. She has a Detroiter’s sass. Not crass but cutting. Go on with your bad self Kat.

  25. Brondie   3 years ago

    Have never seen you on the show, Robby.

  26. cravinbob   3 years ago

    Maybe the author watched the show but really it is best when sound is enabled unless mind is shut. Speaking of mind damaging horrendous drugs how about some alcohol? Legal all the way around, lose your wife and kids and job and home and savings and brain and liver and when used with heroin causes death but only heroin gets blamed! Maybe one should research that.

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