"You Are Canceled." Gaetz Takes Aim at Insane Cancel Culture
Today, on "Hot Takes with Matt Gaetz," Congressman Gaetz opened with a phrase that describes an increassingly predominant and dangerous mentality in American society today:
"You are canceled."
Gaetz listed off movies, TV shows, symbols, and even historical figures in his podcast episode on Thursday that are being destroyed or "canceled."
"Cancel Culture is in its ultimate zenith. We are living in the rennisance of cancel culture. Gone with the Wind -canceled, ABC News had video footage of Christopher Columbus - canceled, a statue of Christopher Columbus being taken down. "LivePD" has been canceled. Also, the New York Times surmising that even "Paw Patrol" could be the next victim of Cancel Culture."
"What is going on in the world today where we would have to cancel something that doesn't even exist, a cartoon, because it paints cops in a favorable light?" Gaetz questions.
The congressman offers a solution – "Maybe if more young people had positive interactions with real cops, or cartoon cops, or cartoon dogs pretending to be cops, that you would have a more inviting and cooperative relationship."
Gaetz says if we "were working with students, building trust, building positive relationships, we would have more effective policing." Instead of solutions like this, Gaetz says, society wants to cancel everything.
Twitter users called for "Paw Patrol" to be canceled this week, accusing the show of glorifying law enforcement.
"Are we going to have to cancel the Greatest Generation altogether?" Gaetz asks. "What will be the new standard in the next generation? Because I have a suspicion: I think we're all gonna be canceled one day."
Congressman Gaetz says, "If we no longer are able to acknowledge the contribution that Christopher Columbus made to humanity, then I don't think any of the contributions that any of us are making are so special that in the lens of history, there will not be some standard of conduct that is developed down the road, that we didn't meet."
Instead, Gaetz believes that Americans should not judge all past generations on today's standards, but realize that human beings are flawed, learn from past generations' mistakes, and grow together through those realizations.
"If we adopt this theory that if someone in their time didn't live to the standards of our time, that not only do we have to critique that conduct, which I always think is fair, but we have to fully cancel them . . . it just begs the question of how folks will judge us," Gaetz concluded.
You can hear the rest of Congressman Gaetz's thoughts on "Cancel Culture," and other vital news pieces in today's episode of "Hot Takes with Matt Gaetz."