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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Rape apologist Mike Cernovich is trying to whitewash his past as an alt-right troll by claiming that ayahuasca made him a better person

Written by Justin Horowitz

Published 07/29/22 9:41 AM EDT

Notorious alt-right troll Mike Cernovich is attempting to whitewash his history as a conspiracy theorist and misogynist by claiming that taking a traditional Amazonian plant-based hallucinogenic tea, ayahuasca, made him a better person. 

During recent interviews, Cernovich has suggested that his experience taking ayahuasca opened his heart and allowed him to become a more loving person. Despite his claims, Cernovich’s recent social media posts and media hits show that his newfound focus on love, connection, and helping people is nothing more than a facade and he is still the same troll and misogynist he has always been. 

Of late, Cernovich has viciously mocked and attacked actor Amber Heard, Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pro-abortion adovcates, the LGBTQ community, and Democrats in general. He has also recently spread conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Twitter’s deputy general counsel Jim Baker, among others. 

Cernovich says that ayahuasca and plant medicines made him a better person 

Ayahuasca is a plant-based hallucinogenic tea that is derived from South American vegetation that contains DMT, a drug that is illegal in the United States. Ayahuasca has traditionally been used in Central and South American ritual and spiritual ceremonies, however, “ayahuasca ritual tourism” has appeared as a new fad in recent years. 

Cernovich has frequently tweeted about the impact ayahuasca has had on his life.

During an interview with Turning Point USA’s Alex Clark on The Spillover podcast, Cernovich said that his three main focuses were “sex, money, and personal glory” before getting involved with ayahuasca. He added that he currently focuses on “love,” “human connection,” “helping people,” and “doing things with a good intention, with a pure heart. It’s definitely more heart focused than ego focused.” 

He said he now tries “to do more things through the work of my heart.”

Video file

Citation

From the June 23, 2022, edition of Turning Point USA's The Spillover 

On The Charlie Kirk Show in early July, Cernovich suggested he is “a new person” whose “heart was completely opened” to others' struggles after taking ayahuasca. He claims that he now focuses on the “loving aspect and the heart aspect of life.”

Mike Cernovich on The Charlie Kirk Show

July 1, 2022

Audio file

Citation

From the July 1, 2022, edition of Real America's Voice's The Charlie Kirk Show 

On the May 14, 2021, edition of his own podcast, Cernvoich explained that ayahuasca taught him to “feel more love” and has allowed him to be “improved as a person in many ways.”

The Mike Cernovich Podcast: Ayahuasca - Do you Travel through the Universe or is your Mind the Universe (It Doesn't Matter)

May 14, 2021

Audio file

Citation

From the May 14, 2021, edition of the Mike Cernovich Podcast

While on the YouTube channel Break The Rules live stream, Cernovich said that taking “plant medicine” allowed him to become closer to God and realize that “we should love everyone.”

Video file

Citation

From the January 11, 2022, edition of the Break The Rules live stream

Cernovich’s social media posts and media hits tell a different story 

A look at Cernovich’s social media accounts and recent media hits shows he has not stopped acting like a troll and misogynist:

  • During the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation trial, Cernovich mocked Heard numerous times on Twitter.  
  • Cernovich attacked Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz, tweeting, “Taylor Lorenz is the Amber Turd of regime propaganda.” Cernovich also described Lorenz as “a psycho / stalker” and an “anti-Semite.”
  • Cernovich appeared to endorse Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) comment that women at abortion rallies are “ugly and overweight.” 
  • Cernovich retweeted support for using the anti-LGBTQ term “groomer.”
  • He described then-Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as someone who “supports terrorism.”  
  • Responding to a TikTok, Cernovich described a pro-abortion advocate as “clearly a drunk” and attacked her apperance. 
  • During an interview on Breitbart Radio, Cernovich said leftist people “worship death” and are “pushing genocide against Christians.” He also described abortion access after the first trimester as “barbaric” and “gruesome.”
  • He compared Democrats’ support of abortion and acceptance of trans kids to “demonic occult practices.”
  • Cernovich mocked companies that have said they’ll pay for their employees to travel to access safe abortions.  
  • After a racist 18-year-old opened fire in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store, killing 10 people, Cernovich baselessly claimed that the shooter was an “authoritarian left wing” who believes in “green nationalism.” 
  • Cernovich spread a conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is going to be killed in prison. 
  • After the war in Ukraine started, Cernovich described Russia’s deadly invasion as “a turf war over some street corners in the Far East.” He also suggested that the U.S. should instead focus on Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rather than Ukraine, calling him “a fascist up north” for cutting off funding sources to truckers blocking roadways.
  • Cernovich falsely claimed that Jim Baker, Twitter’s deputy general counsel, “facilitated fraud” by coordinating a meeting between former Democratic Party lawyer Michael A. Sussmann and the FBI when he was working for the bureau. This claim was part of an effort to discredit the Trump-Russia investigation.  
  • In 2020, Cernovich suggested that the then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ (D) coronavirus diagnosis was a conspiracy. 

Cernovich has a long history of being an alt-right troll 

Cernovich’s has an extensive past promoting rape denial and misgony. He has claimed in 2016 that “date rape does not exist,” authored a 2011 blog post about “How to Choke a Woman During Sex,” wrote a 2012 story advising men to expose their genitals to get a woman to have sex with them, and coached men in 2011 on “How to Avoid a False Rape Case.”

Cernovich Blog Post

Cernovich also has a longstanding history of pushing conspiracy theories and attacking journalists. Cernovich even regularly co-hosted a part of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show on Infowars in 2017. He was a key figure in pushing the Pizzagate conspiracy theory about Democrats running a pedophilia ring in the basement of a Washington D.C. pizzeria. The conspiracy theory led to a believer opening fire in the restaurant with a rifle. 

At one point, Cernvoich asserted, “Pizzagate is real. There are pedophiles at the highest level of media, Hollywood, and in government.” He has since attempted to scrub his Pizzagate-promoting past.

Video file

Additionally, Cernovich helped spread an unfounded conspiracy theory about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and has repeatedly fabricated conspiracy theories about mass shootings, including the 2016 Florida Pulse nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead. 



In the past, Cernovich repeatedly pushed dogmatism and supported white supremacists. He promoted the idea of a “white genocide,” aligned himself with the white supremacist, “alt-right” figures Baked Alaska and Milo Yiannopoulos, and at one point said that he was “happy” a Black Lives Matter supporter was stabbed to death.

Video file

He also has blatantly attacked minority groups, going as far as to say that “anywhere Muslims go, they’re blowing things up” and suggesting that Muslims Americans may want to “kill all women.”

This list is just the tip of the iceberg of Cernovich’s extensive past as an alt-right troll. Cernovich’s new attempts to whitewash his past most likely won’t work, but that doesn’t appear to stop him from trying.

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