Author: patriotsheart

(Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like the one presenting a sponsored message below and working with them through the links below which benefits Gateway Pundit. We appreciate your support!)

Years after COVID, taste comes and goes. Smell is a rumor. And food is something you chew, not something you enjoy.

COVID hit the smell lining in your nose hard. The virus used its spike protein to dock on ACE2, a door found on the support cells that keep the smell sensors working. When those support cells were damaged, the mucus and signaling that carry odor broke down, and smell went flat. Taste probably rode along, because so much of what we call taste is actually smell.

For some people it cleared in days. For others, it stayed.

Plus, lingering spike proteins and the inflammation they leave behind are one reason the body stays stressed after infection or the shots. Brain fog, low energy, and a dead sense of taste and smell ride along with that load.

Dr. Peter McCullough designed the McCullough Protocol to help the body clear those spike proteins. He is Chief Scientific Officer at The Wellness Company, and Ultimate Spike Detox is the bottle built on that protocol. It is made in America.

It is a full 30-day protocol. Two tablets a day with 8 to 12 ounces of water on an empty stomach, 30 servings in the bottle.

The stack starts with 4x nattokinase, plus bromelain and turmeric, with dandelion root, selenium, black seed, and black pepper. In plain English, that is circulation support, protein breakdown, and daily detox support in one morning dose.

People who got Ultimate Spike Detox talk about taste and smell coming back. One buyer had COVID three times and never fully recovered taste and smell for years. After one week on the bottle, that buyer could taste everything again.

Bradford W. wrote that COVID took his taste and smell for five years. On this product, he said it is restoring what was taken.

Another person using the Ultimate Spike Detox said smell was returning enough to catch a few whiffs of coffee brewing in the morning, and that taste was more pronounced. Their pre-COVID feeling came back.

71% of tested customers reported decreased spike levels, and 77% reported energy improvement. The bottle is 4.9 out of 5 from 471 reviews. Some recovered taste and smell within the first week.

Do not take it if you are pregnant, nursing, on blood thinners, or have a bleeding disorder, and stop two weeks before surgery. For everyone else who can take it, the morning is simple: empty stomach, water, two tablets.

A bottle is $89.99 one time, or $80.99 if you subscribe and save.

Click here to get Dr. McCullough’s Ultimate Spike Detox.

Note: The information provided on this website is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or used as a substitute for professional healthcare guidance. It is your responsibility to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines regarding the purchase, possession, and use of prescription medications.

The post Coffee Has No Smell And Dinner Still Tastes Like Cardboard? Dr. McCullough’s 30-Day Spike Protocol appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump spoke to reporters from Florida before traveling to Georgia for a rally on Saturday night.

The President and First Lady spoke with reporters after casting an early in-person vote in the Florida elections.

Jordan Conradson reported on his conversation with reporters outside the polling station.

The President highlighted recent findings by the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles that “more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in California.”

“In Los Angeles, as you know, they have 20,000 votes, and it could be as high as a million votes,” Trump said.

President Trump also was asked about Barack Obama and Bill Clinton out campaigning against him and Republicans today.

His response was EPIC Trump!

Reporter: “Mr. President, President Obama and President Clinton are out there being a little critical of you today. Do you want to respond to that?”

President Donald Trump: “Well, they’re critical because we’ve beaten them.

You know, when I started, we had a very much weaker Republican Party, a smaller, weaker Republican Party. And then I ran and I won in 2016 and I won in 2022 (2020). But it didn’t work out that way. It was a rigged election. But I won by millions of votes. And I figured because I did, I’ll do it again. And I did it again and I made it too big to rig, even better than 2020 or 2016. And they’re out there fighting and I guess I’d be fighting about with them too.

But Obama was a lousy president. Clinton was not bad, but he got caught up in a lot of scandals. Outside of the scandals, he would have been a good president.”

We never deserved this wonderful man as president!

Via Nick Sorter:

Obama and Clinton are out on the campaign trail taking shots at Trump, and 47 just DEMOLISHED both of them in one breath

“They’re CRITICAL because we’ve BEATEN them.”

“Obama was a LOUSY president. Clinton was not bad, but he got caught up in a lot of scandals.” https://t.co/4vgjDFysxc

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 24, 2026

The post They Never Learn: Obama and Bill Clinton Are Out Campaigning and Smearing Trump – Trump Destroys Them Both with One Line: “They’re Critical Because We’ve Beaten Them” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Lewiston, Maine, the state’s second most populous city, has been dealing with a frightening amount of youth gun violence. The police reported that there have been 35 gun-related incidents so far in 2026, 22 of those involving juveniles.

The city is home to a sizable population of Somali refugees. There are also refugees from other African nations, too.

Fox News Reported:

LEWISTON, Maine — A New England city transformed by an influx of refugees and immigrants is now grappling with a youth gun violence crisis after police reported 35 gun-related incidents this year, 22 involving juveniles.

“I don’t feel safe. I fear for my life,” Mohamed Muhumed, a Lewiston teenager, told Fox News Digital. “I saw someone get punched in the middle of the sidewalk over there. It’s crazy.”

The city, Maine’s second most populous and home to a large population of refugees from Somali and other African nations, is experiencing a serious youth gun violence problem.

“Lewiston Police Chief Carly Conley called gun violence ‘one of the most serious public safety challenges’ facing the city,” Fox News reported.

The police are consistent in arresting the offending youth who commit gun violence, but they are continually being released by the courts.

Rick LaChapelle, a Republican running for Mayor of Lewiston, explained that the police have been doing a good job of making arrests. He explained “It’s been a one-party rule forever that has instilled the rules that there’s no accountability.”

The current Mayor is Democrat Carl Sheline,. He has been outspoken against ICE operations in Maine.

There hasn’t been any official data by the city or the police department that ties Somali residents to the increase in violence, but Mayoral candidate Rick LaChapelle observed, “that seems to be who’s being arrested right now.”

One of the residents claimed that it was the general youth and not specifically Somalis. Another claimed it was tied to poverty within the city.

The city of Lewiston has been a focal point for fraud scandals involving the federal and state Medicaid program in Maine.

Lewiston’s demographics have changed significantly over the past 25 years, with a mass influx of Somalis into the city.

The city has one of the highest per capita Muslim populations in the US. It mostly consists of Somali refugees and refugees from other African countries.

Watch:

Lewiston, Maine, is grappling with a youth gun violence crisis — 22 of 35 gun-related incidents this year involved juveniles, most of them repeat offenders.

City officials approved $200,000 in additional police overtime funding, but critics say the real problem is a juvenile justice system that releases violent teens almost immediately after arrest.

The surge has reignited a fierce immigration debate in the city, which is home to one of the highest per capita Muslim populations in the country, largely Somali refugees who began arriving a quarter century ago.

Full story here https://t.co/l4v3TZgEkt

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) October 24, 2026

The post Lewiston, Maine Juvenile Gun Violence Likely Linked to Mass Migration of Somali and African Migrants appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Trump is getting tired of the constant lies and broken promises from the globalist puppet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It is pretty clear at this point that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can not be trusted.

How many times has he turned on President Trump and America? It is too numerous to count.

Zelenskyy agreed to an energy ceasefire with Trump but his globalist masters had other plans.

On Tuesday, October 13, two days after President Zelensky agreed to Trump’s energy ceasefire – Ukraine bombed the massive oil depot in Valuyki, Oblast, Russia.

Via Hormuz Report:

BREAKING: Ukraine has just struck an oil depot in Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast and set it ablaze, despite Trump’s warnings. Over 500 drones were launched into Russia tonight.

It is the first Ukrainian strike on energy infrastructure since Trump’s announced “ceasefire” two days ago.

Ukraine’s response to US threats to cut intelligence and freeze the PURL weapons mechanism if Kyiv were to resume energy strikes was “We will burn Russian refineries.”

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) October 13, 2026

But, that is not all.

Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at Elon Musk and the US, after the decision to disrupt the Starlink internet network in Ukraine earlier this month.

Starlink, which is controlled by Musk’s SpaceX, has been crucial in the war against Russia.

According to The London Economic, Zelensky wrote Musk saying it was a “big mistake” that will lead to “a lot of losses” in Ukraine.

Zelensky continued: “People will die if attacks continue and if Starlink will not work.”

On Saturday, The Conservative Treehouse reported on Zelensky’s latest lies.

Elon Musk responded to Zelensky on X social media:

“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be.

Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.

Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.

Starlink remains critical to the defense of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now. Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact.

Starlink was also crucial to preventing Russia from overrunning Ukraine in the early days of the war, as all other means of communication were destroyed or jammed by Russia.

SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR.

That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell.

End of story.”

(emphasis TGP)

So it wasn’t Elon who broke the rules. It wasn’t Elon who continues to push for an endless slaughter in an unwinnable war. It wasn’t Elon who was to blame for Ukraine breaking the StarLink rules.

It was Volodymyr Zelensky.

Via Elon Musk:

Correct.

Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be.

Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.

Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.

Starlink remains critical to the defense of Ukraine, as it is the only system that cannot be jammed or blown up, at least for now. Were Starlink to be turned off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact.

Starlink was also crucial to preventing Russia from overrunning Ukraine in the early days of the war, as all other means of communication were destroyed or jammed by Russia.

SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR.

That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell.

End of story.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2026

The post Zelensky Caught Lying Again! Ukraine was Violating Starlink Terms and Using It for Guiding Weapons into Russia – That’s Why It Was Turned Off! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Anthony Constantino, the CEO of Sticker Mule, won his primary race in June against the Republican Party-endorsed candidate, Assemblymember Robert Smullen.

Constantino won the primary race earning almost 60 percent of the vote in his upstate New York district.

New York 21 is a conservative district in November 2024 Elise Stefanik won her reelection by a wide margin over her Democrat opponent with 62% of the vote.

In November Anthony Constantino will be up against Democrat Blake Gendebien

Anthony was hoping to debate leftist Gendebien on Saturday but the shy Democrat never showed up.

Constantino went ahead with the debate anyway.

This was exceptional!

Constantino had a chicken suit up and sit in for his cowardly Democrat opponent.

It was quite entertaining!

You can watch the entire “debate” on X. Anthony shared it so you see what he’s up against!

** And, please donate to Anthony’s campaign if you can! He is a great MAGA conservative and will be a fresh addition to the Republican Caucus in DC.

And, for the record… Anthony is Trump endorsed!

The post Hilarious! Anthony Constantino Debates His Democrat Opponent in NY 21 and a Chicken Shows Up! (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

As was reported earlier, Democrat Party is now in open warfare against America’s most brilliant entrepreneur, builder, philanthropist, and creator, Elon Musk.

This comes as Musk announced a bombshell on X social media (that he owns) this week.

The Space-X owner said he was going to give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. “This will be the first of many.”

But Democrats are not impressed. They want to destroy him.

Musk, the most brilliant entrepreneur of our generation, is a major target for the American left. Don’t fool yourselves; they would love to put him in a prison cell next to Donald Trump.

The losers at Bulwark, many former Republicans who hate Trump and Musk, fantasize about putting Elon in prison.

In this video, captured by Western Lensman, the Bulwark hosts label Musk a war criminal(?) and report that, “House Democrats are carving up jurisdictions for who is going to subpoena Musk before which one of them and for what.”

The Bulwark crew is absolutely ecstatic over the idea of investigations and prosecutions of Elon Musk.

Can barely contain themselves:

“He has a body count like a f*cking war criminal. We start with the US Congress and it ends at The Hague for Elon Musk.”

“You’ve got $1 trillion, asshole. Start spending it on lawyers.”

“You don’t hate him nearly enough.”

“There has been a series of meetings among House Democrats. Do you know what they’re doing? Yes. They’re carving up jurisdictions for who is going to Subpoena him to testify before which of them and for what.”

“Get a townhouse, big guy. Got a lot of nice brownstones right there by Capitol Hill.”

“Elon! You motherf*cker! You better pack a lunch cause your ass is gonna be living in the Capitol starting January of 2027.”

“I feel like my guys, Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin are f*cking ready. They’re loaded for bear.”

Same kind of people that’ve cried endlessly about the weaponization of justice are absolutely salivating over the idea of weaponizing justice against their political opposition.

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 23, 2026

Far-left organizations are even funding a campaign with brainless leftist ‘influencers’ to attack and threaten Elon Musk on social media.

On Friday, Elon Musk responded. Elon will not cower to their wickedness.

Elon responded to the Bulwark threats.

“If they want to live by the sword, that is how they will die too.”

The Bulwark crew is absolutely ecstatic over the idea of investigations and prosecutions of Elon Musk.

Can barely contain themselves:

“He has a body count like a f*cking war criminal. We start with the US Congress and it ends at The Hague for Elon Musk.”

“You’ve got $1 trillion, asshole. Start spending it on lawyers.”

“You don’t hate him nearly enough.”

“There has been a series of meetings among House Democrats. Do you know what they’re doing? Yes. They’re carving up jurisdictions for who is going to Subpoena him to testify before which of them and for what.”

“Get a townhouse, big guy. Got a lot of nice brownstones right there by Capitol Hill.”

“Elon! You motherf*cker! You better pack a lunch cause your ass is gonna be living in the Capitol starting January of 2027.”

“I feel like my guys, Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin are f*cking ready. They’re loaded for bear.”

Same kind of people that’ve cried endlessly about the weaponization of justice are absolutely salivating over the idea of weaponizing justice against their political opposition.

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 23, 2026

These wicked people have NO ideas on how to improve America – They only have hatred, destruction and violence in their arsenal.

The post Elon Musk Responds to Organized Leftist Threats: “If They Want to Live By the Sword, That Is How They Will Die Too” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Democrats dragged out a stale, old Barack Obama on Saturday to slander President Trump and stump for far-left Democrats in Ohio.

Obama’s presentation was as expected: Lie and attack President Trump.

The former Democrat president has a lot of nerve poking at Trump considering he was running a coup against him in his first term!

During his speech on Saturday Obama bragged about his diplomacy with Iran, saying, “And I didn’t have to fire a missile to do it. I just had to engage in diplomacy.”

He’s lying again!

He forgot to mention he sent a pallet of US cash in the middle of the night to the terrorist regime!

As The Gateway Pundit reported in April, Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman revealed that President Obama gave Iran $150 billion when Obama was in office, and the regime did not even build a single street with that money.

Instead, they used the money to make missiles and drones and to fortify their proxy armies in the region like Hamas, Ansar Allah, and Hezbollah. With these funds, Iran offers a safe harbor to the leaders of Al Qaeda, including one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons, who was indoctrinated into jihadism.

Saudi Prince MbS reveals that President Obama gave Iran $150B, and the IRGC didn’t even build a single street with that money.

Instead, they used the money to make missiles and drones. And on top of that, they also used the funds Obama provided them to finance and arm… pic.twitter.com/1JTL1ExXml

— DK (@1Nicdar) April 3, 2026

This was Barack Obama’s way of destabilizing the Middle East. And Obama did this all in public view. Well, most of it.

This was a direct threat against Israel and American allies in the region. Obama always brought chaos with him and left a trail of destruction. He took actions to spread this chaos and evil across the Middle East.

The Gateway Pundit readers know that we have reported on Barack Obama’s pallets of cash sent to Iran in the dead of night.

Obama paid the terrorist regime billions.

It was such a dangerous move that the Saudi leader is now openly condemning Obama’s dangerous actions in the region.

Always remember: When Barry Obama opens his mouth, he lies.

The post Liar Obama on Iran: “I Didn’t Have to Fire a Missile… I Just Had to Engage in Diplomacy”… Forgets to Mention He Gave the Terrorist Regime a Pallet of Cash in the Middle of the Night! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

L.A. TACO, the leftist outlet known for aggressive coverage of ICE raids in Southern California, has fired its high-profile journalist Memo Torres over allegations that Democratic state Sen. Sasha Renee Pérez was writing his articles during a secret affair.

Torres’ firing follows an internal investigation the publication said lasted nearly five months and found repeated violations of its policies and journalistic standards.

The 46-year-old landscaper-turned-ICE reporter became one of the outlet’s most visible faces in immigration reporting through his “Daily Memo” videos documenting enforcement actions across the region.

The outlet publicly stated that it fired him for “repeated violations of our policies and our basic journalistic standards,” while insisting the decision had nothing to do with scaling back ICE coverage.

The statement read, in part:

Firing him was the last thing we wanted. On his final day, Memo told us himself he was ready to go independent, and that it was a better fit for what he wanted to do. We thought we left on good terms, and offered to publicly support his next chapter and give him a generous severance. We offered our support because we never stopped believing in his mission.

Instead, he told his followers a different story: that he was blindsided, which immediately led to speculation that L.A. TACO pushed him out to pull back on ICE coverage.

The rumor that we’ve turned our back on ICE coverage is a lie. And a dangerous one.

Memo built his name as a truth-teller and a community leader. But right now, a false narrative is being spread, and it’s dividing the very community he claims to serve.

However, according to a report from LA Material, citing sources close to the outlet, management concerns went beyond routine process issues and included Torres bypassing editors, making factual errors, and maintaining a romantic relationship with an elected official while covering her work.

The official, Pérez, 34, is the youngest member of the California Senate and a former mayor of Alhambra who has been outspoken against ICE operations.

The most serious allegation is that Pérez was allowed to edit and contribute written material to stories published under Torres’ byline.

Pérez issued a statement denying any role in the outlet’s editorial process.

“I did not write any articles or control the editorial decisions of L.A. Taco,” she said. “Any person suggesting I wrote pieces for L.A. Taco is attempting to undermine my work and attack Memo’s integrity.”

Pérez acknowledged a prior personal relationship with Torres and said L.A. TACO management asked the pair to limit their communication roughly six months earlier, a request she said they followed.

Another source told LA Material that executives were aware of the relationship by February and later used it as a pretext amid internal disagreements over the direction of immigration coverage.

Scoop from @antoniacere: Romantic relationship with California politician precipitated end of star journalist’s tenure at LA Taco

https://t.co/jHHQPEHTU4

— Matt Hamilton (@_hamilton_matt) October 24, 2026

In comments to LA Material, Torres said, “I have no idea what they are talking about. I have never refused accountability about anything.”

Torres covered Pérez’s legislative efforts, including promoting an oversight bill she introduced in early February, attending and covering a press conference she held shortly afterward, and highlighting the legislation again the following month.

7 years come to an end. https://t.co/P82ZtZokBC

— Memo Torres (@el_tragon_de_LA) October 22, 2026

One of those stories was later updated with an editor’s note stating it had been amended to meet editorial standards.

The pair also appeared together in May at the Latino Spirit Awards, where Pérez presented L.A. TACO with a journalism award and, according to reports, walked arm-in-arm with Torres onto the state Assembly floor.

Pérez chairs the Senate Education Committee and has positioned herself as a defender of illegal aliens against federal enforcement.

The post Leftist Anti-ICE Reporter Memo Torres FIRED After Allegations That He Let a Democrat State Senator Write His Articles During Secret Affair appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Steve Hilton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, appeared on the Bill Maher show on Friday night, and managed to get a round of applause from Maher’s liberal audience when he vowed to clean up the streets in the state.

There is no denying that California needs to be cleaned up. Years of one-party rule by Democrats ha turned the once beautiful state into a disgraceful mess.

Hilton has even been campaigning in the notorious homeless area of Los Angeles known as Skid Row, pointing out how bad things there have become.

If Hilton can get applause form the Maher crowd on this point, does he have a shot? At least he is making an honest effort.

Transcript via RedWave Press:

Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton LAYS OUT his common-sense plans to Bill Maher and why everyone should get out and vote for him.

“I’m going to give you $3 gas… Right now you’ve got states where gas starts with a $3. Your first $150,000, tax-free, no state income… We’re going to have that here. We’re going to clean up the streets, finally, in California. We’re going to END MASS homelessness.

“And also, the regulations, so you can build sh*t in your yard, like, and not have to go through the insane regulations.”

Watch the video below:

Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton LAYS OUT his common-sense plans to Bill Maher and why everyone should get out and vote for him.

“I’m going to give you $3 gas… Right now you’ve got states where gas starts with a $3. Your first $150,000, tax-free, no… pic.twitter.com/XiFQ6V85Rs

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) October 24, 2026

Here is one of Hilton’s Skid Row videos.

From FOX News:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton tours Los Angeles’ Skid Row with Fox News Digital, passing sprawling homeless encampments, trash-covered sidewalks and signs of drug use as he questions where billions in taxpayer funding have gone.

Hilton spoke to one homeless woman who recounts going to jail “a few times.”

But Hilton isn’t the only one demanding answers. A local volunteer who says she voted for Mayor Karen Bass accuses her of failing to deliver on promises to address homelessness.

Watch:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton tours Los Angeles’ Skid Row with Fox News Digital, passing sprawling homeless encampments, trash-covered sidewalks and signs of drug use as he questions where billions in taxpayer funding have gone.

Hilton spoke to one homeless… pic.twitter.com/Dus8oWcnpd

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 12, 2026

California needs a change. Big time.

The post Republican Governor Candidate Steve Hilton Gets Applause From Bill Maher’s Liberal Audience for Saying He’ll Clean Up the Streets of California (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Culture

As France Burns, Its Literary World Is Engulfed by Scandal

Did AI write the most celebrated French novel of the year?

TakiMag

Credit: B.Borisov

Compared with riots and revolutions, literary controversies might seem like small beer, but for those who live through books, as I largely do, it is the riots and revolutions that are the epiphenomena. So while Paris burns, at least in part, I concern myself with the really important question, namely whether Thélyson Orélien’s novel, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was That or Die), was written wholly or in large part by artificial intelligence.  

I am not fully, or even marginally, competent to answer this question. The book was put through the Pangram program, which supposedly detects writing by AI with a high degree of certainty, and which found that it was written wholly by AI. But AI itself says Pangram is not wholly reliable. Is AI itself reliable on this question? As Michel de Montaigne asked, Que sais-je? (“What do I know?”) though I think more accurately I would put it, “What do I know?”, which is a slightly different question.

An online French literary magazine asked me to review the book after the allegations were made, and as my review has yet to appear, I will not reveal my judgment on it here as a literary artifact. I will concern myself only with peripheral questions about the whole controversy. 

Thélyson Orélien is a 38-year-old Haitian refugee now living in Montreal. He had published articles, poetry, and short stories before he published this novel, an account of the travails of a Haitian refugee who finally reaches Canada as a safe haven. The book was a sensation overnight, won some prizes, and was up for the Prix Goncourt, the premier literary prize in France that guarantees huge sales—though the book had already sold extremely well, in the tens of thousands. Then a journalist at Le Figaro called Samuel Fitoussi revealed, or perhaps I should say alleged, that it had been written by AI, which Orélien strenuously denied. 

The controversy that followed strongly resembles that which followed the revelation that Jason Arday, the professor of the sociology of education at Cambridge, was a plagiarist and fantasist. As in the case of Arday, it was claimed by Orélien’s defenders that those who put his book to the test were motivated by racism, and that, as a corollary, their findings or allegations were worthless, and could and should be ignored. 

This, of course, implies that the truth or otherwise of a statement is unimportant by comparison with the motivation of him who utters it. If Fitoussi was a racist, then what he said about the novel could and should be disregarded. Indeed, one leftist-leaning publication, Les Inrockuptibles, carried an article to the effect that the most important question was not whether Fitoussi’s allegations were well-founded or true, and said, among other things:

Suspicions and doubts [of the use of AI in their writing] weigh most heavily on authors and authoresses who are already in a minority in a publishing landscape that is in the majority white.

In other words, even if it were true that Orélien’s work was the product of AI, he should have been allowed to get away with it—just as Arday, according to some, should have been allowed to get away with his plagiarism, the low quality of his work, and his publicly-expressed fantasies. This carte blanche is what so-called racial justice both demands and amounts to. (To those with any historical imagination, the very term “racial justice” should send shivers down the spine.) 

Here let me mention as an aside, a curious but revealing difference between the effect of militant feminism on the English and French languages. In English there is a demand that female forms of words such as actress be abandoned in favor of actor. In French, there is precisely the opposite demand, that traditionally masculine forms of words such as écrivain (writer) that have traditionally been used indiscriminately for female writers should be feminized to écrivaine. This suggests to me that the reform in usage has nothing to do with justice or bringing about equality but is simply an exercise of intimidatory power; the exercise of power is increasingly regarded as the highest good of human life and activity. 

Now of course, if Fitoussi is mistaken, he owes Orélien an abject apology; if, to the contrary, Orélien posed as an author when he acted only as a stimulus to AI, and perhaps as a corrector of its work, he deserves opprobrium. But I am agnostic as to which is the case, and it is perfectly possible that we shall never know the truth beyond all dispute. The listing of the book for the possible award of the Prix Goncourt has in the meantime been abandoned, but that is no more than a precautionary measure and is not evidence one way or the other. I suppose it must be some consolation for Orélien that sales have held up. 

The author has vehemently denied Fitoussi’s allegations, but his reliability as a witness in his own defense or as a man of probity has been rather undermined by the fact that he has been forced to acknowledge another discovery, that some of this earlier work was plagiarized. This he puts down as a regrettable youthful mistake, and it is true that he was only in his 20s when he plagiarized. Let him who was never foolish in his 20s cast the first stone.

In English law, in any case, the prosecution is not allowed to introduce evidence of previous convictions in support of a new accusation, on the grounds that to do so would be prejudicial. The fact that a man has been a burglar does not mean that he must have committed the burglary under present consideration, but the minds of the jury would be unfairly swayed in favor of the prosecution if it knew that this was precisely the kind of crime that the accused had committed in the past. 

That a man has undoubtedly committed plagiarism in the past does not go to prove that he employed AI to “write” his book (or should it be, to write “his” book?). But we should not be human if, because he has admitted to plagiarism that was also detected by AI, we lent less credence to his protestations of innocence. 

Unless the matter be resolved irrefutably one way or the other, most people will believe what they were already inclined to believe anyway, and ignorant armies will continue to clash by night.  

The post As France Burns, Its Literary World Is Engulfed by Scandal appeared first on The American Conservative.