‘The Right Is FRACTURED!’ Brett Cooper on ‘Woke’ MAGA, Bad Bunny, Clavicular & Wuthering Heights

Brett Cooper and Piers Morgan observe that segments of the American right are becoming 'woke' in their own way, characterized by oversensitivity, pearl-clutching, and a constant search for outrage over cultural issues. Cooper specifically calls out the hypocrisy of conservatives who condemn 'sexual' content from artists like Bad Bunny but embrace similar lyrical themes or behaviors from figures like Kid Rock or Nicki Minaj if they align politically.

Piers asks if the right is 'becoming the very wokies that we thought we'd got rid of?' (0:04, 1:50). Cooper responds 'In a lot of ways, yes' (0:05, 2:05). Cooper states, 'I think there is just a lot of fracturing and I talk about this on my show all the time, but I do feel like there is a lot of hypocrisy and people are getting outraged over things that I would normally just kind of let roll off us.' (2:36). She later adds, 'I think it's ridiculous for people, especially on the right, who get their panties in a bunch and clutch their pearls about everything that Hollywood does... to then, for example, with Nicki Minaj, just welcome her with open arms when, yes, she's hanging out with Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, but she's still posting videos like twerking on private jets.' (13:05-13:24)

The intense conservative backlash to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance is presented as a prime example of political tribalism overriding intellectual honesty. Piers Morgan, initially unfamiliar with Bad Bunny, found the performance impressive and largely non-political, highlighting his rags-to-riches story and messages of unity. He argues that the outrage was purely tribal, suggesting that if Bad Bunny had expressed support for Donald Trump, the conservative reaction would have been overwhelmingly positive.

Piers describes researching Bad Bunny and finding his performance 'hopeful,' 'inspiring,' 'positive,' and ending with 'God bless America' (4:40-5:48). He then notes the immediate social media backlash: 'suddenly I realized actually he's the devil incarnate. It was all disgusting, all disgraceful' (6:04-6:07). Piers concludes, 'none of this is really that intellectually honest. It's just tribal. It's politically tribal. That's it.' (14:45-14:49)

Brett Cooper explains the social media trend of 'looksmaxing,' where individuals obsessively try to maximize their physical attractiveness, often through extreme and dangerous methods like 'bone smashing' (hitting one's jaw with a hammer). She details the case of 'Clavicular,' a 20-year-old influencer who openly discusses using illicit drugs like meth and Adderall for weight loss and appearance, creating his own lexicon ('mogging,' 'foids'). Cooper warns parents about the content their children consume, highlighting the potential for impressionable minds to take such dangerous advice seriously.

Cooper defines 'looksmaxing' as 'trying to make yourself look as physically attractive as possible' (24:37). She describes Clavicular's practices: 'he does something for example um called bone smashing where he takes a hammer to the jaw' (25:14) and 'he very openly does drugs. He talks about doing meth in order to help him fast so that he can lose weight.' (25:57). She expresses concern: 'this is the content that your kids online are consuming. Like we can be able to look at this and go, 'This is hilarious and ridiculous, but there are people that are taking it seriously that are wanting to take his advice.'' (26:20-26:30)

Brett Cooper shares how becoming a mother has significantly recalibrated her perspective, making her 'give less of a crap' about trivial political outrage. She now prioritizes honesty, common sense, and finding humor, rather than constantly being angry or allowing social media to derail her mental well-being. While less prone to trivial outrage, motherhood has also deepened her commitment to fighting for fundamental values and ensuring a stable future for her child.

Cooper states, 'I give less of a crap about things now... less relevant to me in a lot of ways and less worthy of getting angry about.' (17:12-17:26). She adds, 'I don't need to spend all of my energy being angry 24/7 about things. I would rather find humor and try to offer some unity and just common sense.' (17:47-17:55). She also notes, 'it also has made me more serious about other things because I want him to grow up in a world that is full of common sense.' (18:26-18:31)

Cooper criticizes the pervasive online trend of individuals asserting absolute certainty about complex issues, even when they haven't fully engaged with the information. She uses the example of the Epstein files, where commentators on both sides claimed definitive proof for their narratives without having read the extensive documents. This rush to certainty fuels outrage and tribalism, hindering genuine understanding and nuanced discussion.

Regarding the Epstein files, Cooper states, 'everyone is telling their audience that they are certain. And the outrage is overwhelming. And in my opinion, it's all a bunch of [__].' (20:40-20:50). She clarifies, 'It's about people's outrage and their certainty about what they're reading.' (20:57). She highlights the problem: 'we have people sitting on their shows saying I can tell you for certain that this is exactly how it is I've read everything [__] most people have not read the three and a half million files.' (21:23-21:31).