Dave Rubin’s Sudden Political Change After Receiving Money From The Koch Brothers


Dave Rubin used to be a host on The Young Turks, a liberal online news show, but has now become a “classical liberal”. This term has been coined by Rubin in order to be able to espouse talking points of conservatives and libertarians, while also being called a liberal. However, the truth is that the term “classical liberal” refers to someone who is essentially a libertarian. Dave Rubin often states that he is only invited by libertarians and conservatives to speak at colleges, expressing his belief that this is because they are the only ones who are tolerant of other people’s ideas. The truth is that the reason he is invited by conservatives and libertarians is that he shares their ideology. But how could Dave Rubin go from being a self-described “liberal” to being a self-described “basically libertarian” in just a span of two years?

Well, to set the groundwork, here is a video in which Dave Rubin states that he loves Bernie Sanders, and that he essentially supports everything that he believes in, and even dubs Bernie Sanders a “socialist”. “If you guys know anything about me at this point you know that I do like Bernie, he’s the guy that I pretty much everything he says I pretty much agree with…” Rubin stated.

Fast forward to 2018:

How can Dave Rubin go from supporting someone he himself dubbed a “socialist” to now completely opposing him “every step of the way”, and making a video titled “Socialism Isn’t Cool”?

Well, on September 21, 2016, Rubin and Learn Liberty announced a partnership together. What is Learn Liberty? It is essentially a libertarian think tank that releases videos that espouse Libertarian ideas. Learn Liberty was launched by the Institute For Humane Studies, which is a “non-profit organization that engages with students and professors throughout the United States”. The focus of The Institute Of Humane Studies is Libertarianism. Who sits on the board of directors for the Institute for Humane Studies? Charles G. Koch, whose net worth is over 60 billion dollars. The chief financial officer of The Institute For Humane Studies stated that Charles G. Koch is “a longtime and generous supporter of ours, but we’re not involved as a political organization.” Charles Koch has donated 12.4 million dollars to the IHS between 2008 and 2012.

What does this mean? Effectively, Dave Rubin gained a source of income from Learn Liberty, a Libertarian think tank which receives funding from the Koch Brothers. Is it hard to figure out why Dave Rubin had such a change of mind? I don’t think so.

Written by Sahil Habibi

Sahil Habibi


Sahil is a Writer for Progressive Army.

1 Comment threads
1 Thread replies
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
2 Comment authors
Ruby Marlowebob duwato Recent comment authors
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
bob duwato
bob duwato

crackpot conspiracy or not, the Koch family did not pay Dave Rubin. stop slandering people you think you disagree with. all of your content is libelous and you know no one will stop you, congratulations on being part of the problem. hope you like 4 more years of Trump, people like you are the reason i don’t vote

Ruby Marlowe
Ruby Marlowe

You can buy libertarian bullshit all you want (you will never join the billionaires at the table they will prevent you) but Koch reps do exactly this and Rubin was looking for it anyway as Anna Kasparian did say he was constantly bothering TYT about money and raises. Tell me, how could he afford a big wedding and a $1.2 million dollar house on a TYT salary?

Trump’s Regulatory Rollback is the Direct Result of the Democrats’ Failed Strategy

Dave Rubin’s Sudden Political Change After Receiving Money From The Koch Brothers