Ethan Klein on Aaron Bushnell Transcript

Disclaimer: I took out some "um"s and "like"s for clarity's sake.

[0:00] Ethan: I saw the video, and, my first reaction is that— Don't say 'rest in power' that's not for him. I see— The leftist dialogue about this has been absolutely bananas.

[0:09] (cont) My first reaction is this: It was absolutely insane how he stood the whole time. It was crazy— I don't even know how that's humanly possible.

[0:19] (cont) Again, not to put this uncouth, but he's a champ at f*cking burning alive. I mean that sounds bad, but he did it really good. Does that sound bad? (laughs) We have to make levity of things. Does it sound bad that he was really good? But I mean that as a compliment!

[0:33] Ethan: What the f*ck are you guys angry about you weirdos? I'm literally— What did I do? Oh my god, stop. They just— All I hear is "Ethan no" but I don't even understand what I've even f*cking said. (chewing into mic)

[0:42] (cont) Oh, chewing? Yeah, I'll stop that. Maybe they just mean— Maybe they're just talking about the chewing. Could that be? (laughs)

[0:45] Love: (laughs) Yeah, that's probably it.

[0:47] Ethan: Wait what did I even say that's mean! Like, give me a fucking break. Holy sh*t. Didn't he do it because he wants people to talk about it? Like, that's what I'm doing.

[0:53] (cont) My point is this: First of all, I was stunned by the way that he...stood through the whole thing. I mean, sh*t. That was wild. Um, and really showed his true resolve to protest in that way. I can only imagine that's just a horrific way to die. So, pretty wild.

[1:10] (cont) That being said, (coughs into mic) I do not believe that it is good for people to be...romanticizing, or, encouraging—I know it's not, I know people aren't doing that—but the way people are romanticizing it is kind of fucked up. In my opinion. The man— He killed himself. And I don't think we should ever talk about that issue with any kind of reverence.

[1:34] (cont) Because, let's be real, the amount of people online who are talking about it in this wonderful almost, I don't know how to describe it, people are...trying to word how to put it...people are idolizing him. You're going to— More people are going to kill themselves. I mean, that's just a matter of fact. It's just— There's just more people that are going to kill themselves—

[1:50] (cont) I don't think suicide's funny, I don't think it's anything that we should encourage. I think it's pretty much always bad. And, while I can appreciate his dedication—I mean, to put it mildly, you know—I can appreciate his dedication...and his conviction. Right? I mean, phenom—unbelievable. Self-immolation is literally suicide. He killed himself!

[2:09] Ethan: Sorry, I don't know what that— That's another weird dialogue. They go—no, no, no—everybody goes, "Yeah, we agree suicide is bad, get help." But then they go, "Unless you're doing it for a good cause, then you can kill yourself." Like, no! This is not a f*cking— This is not something to romanticize. Ever. Sorry.

[2:19] Ethan: (reading chat) "You should 100% do more research on self-immolation as protest." Yeah, you know who does self-immolation? F*cking— People who are under tyrannical rule, who have literally no way for their voices to be heard other than that. Like I'm sorry. Suicide bad. I don't think we should romanticize it. (Reading chat) "I haven't seen anyone romanticizing it." Haven't seen anyone romanticizing it? Are you f*cking kidding me? Have you been online?

[2:40] (cont) Everybody is glamorizing it. Oh my god, how can you even disagree with me on that. That's crazy. The amount of people online who are like, "He's a—" I understand why people want to go, "He's a hero." I understand that because he made this ultimate sacrifice in the most gruesome way possible, right? And so I understand that impulsively being like— I don't want that to... I want to honor that sacrifice.

[2:54] Ethan: (reading chat) "Monks do self-immolation." Yeah, I know. When they're like, under tyrannical oppression by the Chinese and have literally no way for their voices to be heard. But, I mean, the Palestinian cause is for sure, plenty talked about.