The liberal TBS show host sparked controversy when she took aim at Prager University on Wednesday, a nonprofit organization that creates online conservative content.
"Prager U's website says 'Prager University is not an accredited academic institution...but it is a place where you are free to learn.' That describes every single place! The last place Sam learned something for free was in a bra store. She learned she's been wrong for 35 years," Bee tweeted.
The Washington Examiner reached out to some of the most-watched personalities on PragerU, all of them saying that their goals are to counter "groupthink" and expose young people to new ideas.
"Samantha Bee's horror that PragerU would expose students to basic historical and philosophical concepts tells you everything you need to know about the dismal state of education in our society. The sole purpose of my PragerU show the Book Club is to encourage people to read great books," Michael Knowles, show host at the Daily Wire and co-host of The Verdict podcast with Sen. Ted Cruz, told the Washington Examiner.
Knowles hosts a show on PragerU called Book Club, where he and other guests read through works of fiction and nonfiction, emphasizing the significant themes in each book. In his first episode, Knowles and PragerU founder Dennis Prager read through Viktor Frankl's memoir Man's Search for Meaning, where the two discussed the author's reflections on surviving the Holocaust. Knowles said he plans to explain the importance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet on the next episode of his show in a knock on Bee.
"Does Samantha fear Shakespeare will corrupt the youth? What is the Left so afraid of? Samantha Bee should consider tuning in. Maybe she'll learn something," he said.
Bee criticized the organization for providing what she calls "shitty" and "factually untrue" commentary, targeting its anti-abortion, pro-nuclear family, and Judeo-Christian messages. "Come on; the important thing isn't whether God is a woman or a man. The important thing is that God is hot," the comedian joked after playing a clip from Prager, who discussed biblical descriptions of God.
Bee, known for her crude and insensitive humor, said, "Finally, for once in my life, I want to feel the Lord in me."
On her YouTube channel, Bee captions her segment by saying, "Turns out right-wing propaganda networks aren't just for your racist grandparents anymore!" But Dave Rubin, host of The Rubin Report, begs to differ. Rubin, who identifies as a "classical liberal," notes that the organization repeatedly invites him to produce content despite political disagreements.
"It's ironic because, Samantha Bee, the New York Times, and Media Matters claim PragerU is propaganda, while they push progressive groupthink to the masses. The folks at PragerU know I have some political differences with the purely conservative position, but they still invite me to do their videos," Rubin told the Washington Examiner.
Rubin often hosts political commentators, religious figures, and psychologists to discuss a wide range of worldviews, giving them free agency to make their case for their belief system. In a report published last year by the New York Times, the news outlet found that online "radicals" moderated their political views after listening to Rubin and others within the identified "Intellectual Dark Web."
Rubin said he is creating a third video for the organization, scheduled for release in April. Rubin said he wants to inform his listeners of how to "truly break away from Leftist factory settings that most of us are force-fed in school and through media."
"PragerU and by extension a huge crew of classical liberal, libertarian, and conservative voices are exploding online because we are offering a counternarrative. Samantha Bee has a team of 20 comedy writers and a huge budget for a show nobody is watching," Rubin said.
PragerU responded to Bee on Twitter, jokingly thanking the liberal host for "advertisements." "Maybe you think we're "dangerous" because it's clearer than ever before that we're winning the culture! We're reaching millions of people each day with conservative ideas!"
The group then retweeted a large number of supporters and shared other videos pertaining to philosophy, ethics, and other topics.
Before comparing Prager University to "Monsters University," Bee slung ad hominem attacks against Prager himself, calling the conservative "bonkers" and his organization a "fake ass university."
Responding to Bee, contributors to the nonprofit organization said she could learn something by watching PragerU content.
Allen Estrin, the co-founder of Prager University and executive producer of the Dennis Prager Show, echoed the sentiment of his organization's public statement to the Washington Examiner.
"Samantha Bee did get a couple of things right. PragerU is reaching millions of young people. And we are dangerous — to the Left," he quipped.
Comment: It just goes to show how out-of-touch the leftist media is. They simply don't 'get' conservative thought, branding anything outside of their accepted norms as 'dangerous'. And while PragerU is ideologically conservative, and inevitably gets some things wrong, at least it offers a counter-narrative to the NPC indoctrination facing everyone who turns on a TV.
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