Right-wing pundits call out serial plagiarist Benny Johnson for misquoting Biden UAW comments

Written by John Knefel

Published

Right-wing media personalities called out one of their own on Tuesday, after plagiarist and conservative streamer Benny Johnson misquoted remarks that President Joe Biden made at the United Auto Workers picket line.

“I marched a lot of UAW picket lines when I was a senator since 1973. But I tell you what — first time I’ve ever done it as president,” Biden said to the striking workers.

Johnson posted the video clip with an incorrect transcript, changing “as president” to “in person” in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to portray Biden as confused or otherwise mentally unwell.

The effort was so ham-handed that even Johnson’s fellow travelers in right-wing media called him out on it.

Conservative pundit Carmine Sabia replied to Johnson’s tweet with the accurate quote.

Alex Nicoll, an adviser to election denier and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, also corrected Johnson.

So did Washington Times Pentagon reporter Mike Glenn.

Johnson was fired from Buzzfeed in 2014 after the site found “more than 40 instances of plagiarism,” as Politico reported at the time. The following year, he was fired from conservative blog Independent Journal Review for pushing an alt-right conspiracy theory and, again, for plagiarism.

Johnson now oversees the productions department at Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, according to the organization’s website. TPUSA has extensive ties to white nationalist figures, and Johnson has made several racist comments during his tenure there.

“​​Oh my God, I've never seen so many white people in one room,” he said to kick off a TPUSA event in 2019. “This is incredible!”

In March, Johnson said that a “mongoloid horde” of “woke intersectional failures” could ruin American cities and referred to former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot a “cultural barbarian.”

In May, he hired an acolyte of white nationalist Nick Fuentes to be his digital media specialist.

UAW workers have been on strike since September 15, arguing for better pay and working conditions, citing record profits from car manufacturers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.