A Columbia student tricked some of the world’s biggest news agencies into believing a made-up backstory. They splashed him across front pages and featured him in prominent broadcasts, where he lied with reckless abandon. The media lapped up his every word.
His goal wasn’t just self-aggrandizement. It was far more strategic. He used it to fuel the leading hate movement of our time. “Let's play skillfully with their minds,” he once said, outlining the strategy he would enact.
Even as the media portrayed him through its favorite lens, a false victim narrative, he barely bothered to hide his real aims. While his backers called him a “peace activist,” he was speaking on video and sending out messages aligning himself with the world’s most murderous Islamist terrorists.
Then, two independent journalists looked into him — and discovered that the truth has been hidden in plain sight. David Collier and Rachel Feldman thought they’d publish a brief document outlining their findings. But they unearthed so much proof that they ended up with a 100-page report.
In the new episode, they join me to share details on Mohsen Mahdawi, the 36-year-old pro-terror radical who has swindled the media at all levels — local, national, and global — as well as lawmakers and religious leaders. As David explains:
“I've been doing this for a long time, and this one is gobsmacking. You know, it really is jaw-dropping stuff… Either he does have some kind of split personality, or he is one of the most devious individuals I’ve ever come across.”
We discuss his wild response, “crickets” from the media, and how people can get the word out. Interestingly, it involves local school boards. Listen now for details. Paid subscribers will get an exclusive edited, annotated, hyperlinked transcript.
Also in the new episode:
The Macklemore mess is nowhere near as complicated as it seems.
The NY Times blames an editing error for an offensive, wildly wrong claim.
I break down the hypocrisy in the battle over press access to the White House.
JL
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