Mehdi Hasan shuts down 20 Donald Trump fans in explosive jubilee debate – viewers call him a ‘National Treasure'

Mehdi Hasan is a British-American journalist who recently made a splash in progressive politics after departing from the MSNBC network to found his own independent media platform, known as Zeteo. Since then, Mehdi has spearheaded numerous investigative journalism and advocacy efforts, most notably concerning the ongoing war in Gaza, which he has termed a “genocide”.

Mehdi is also a staunch critic of the current Donald Trump administration, and has built up a reputation as a formidable debater. On July 20, he showcased his passion for debating once more by appearing on Jubilee’s Surrounded.

Surrounded is a YouTube series where a public debater deliberately disadvantages themselves by pitting themselves against 20 people of opposing viewpoints, with Mehdi facing off against hardline Donald Trump supporters who were staunchly anti-immigrant and openly supported many of the president's most controversial policies. Mehdi would later post a highlight reel of the over 90-minute debate on his X account, which got a lot of reactions, with James Allan calling Mehdi a "National Treasure".



Mehdi’s highlight reel prompted a lot of responses on his X timeline, with many praising Mehdi’s debating skills and commending him on facing off against America’s radicalized right-wingers head on.

User doomer_world called Mehdi an American hero, which he looked all too happy to hear.


User Nick Warren said that the others brought a pencil sharpener to a gatling gun fight.


User jocamp thanked Mehdi for everything.


User Rickey Williams commended Mehdi for taking “hate and fascism” full on, and said there was no barometer to gauge the amount of “crazy” among the 20 right-wingers.


User whereisjarule_ stated that Mehdi was the best debater he’d ever seen.




User thelefttake condemned the people Mehdi debated against, saying they should be “put on a watchlist”.




Not all responses to Mehdi’s debate were positive, however, with seasters jones saying that Mehdi shouldn’t have given the “fascists” a platform.




User Grounded Spaceman accused Mehdi of just talking over everyone.




User Landon Best said that Mehdi shouldn’t call what he did a “debate” because none of the 20 reactionaries he talked to had any ideas worth seriously considering.


However, Landon was met with pushback by ValorieThomas, who pointed out that everyone in the video knew what they signed up for, and genuinely considered themselves debaters.



Before establishing his own media company, Mehdi Hasan spent a long time building his credentials as a journalist and activist. After doing a few stints on British networks such as ITV and BBC One, Mehdi rose to prominence as an anchor for Al Jazeera, following which he transitioned to MSNBC and hosted The Mehdi Hasan Show from 2020 to 2024. Aside from his work on Zeteo, Mehdi is also a regular columnist for The Guardian.

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