Conservative activist and columnist Gavin Wax was fired on Twitter by Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon on May 26, 2023.
The exchange went viral among Donald Trump supporters and provoked controversy because Wax’s firing came after an expletive-laden tweet he directed at Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running against Trump in the GOP primary.
Gavin Mario Wax tweets at @gavinwax. His Twitter biography says he is a columnist for Town Hall.com, an “insider” at Newsmax, and an “ambassador” for Turning Point USA and Live Action.
Wax and his supporters accused Dillon, CEO of the conservative satire site, of firing Wax because Wax supports Trump and “tweeted about DeSantis.” Dillon denied this. Wax tweeted, “They just wanted to scalp me publicly because I tweeted about DeSantis. Shameful.” He also wrote, “It I lose my job for defending the greatest President of my generation and for defending myself then so be it I don’t cave to leftwing cancel culture and I won’t cave to right wing cancel culture from @ChristinaPushaw @JennaEllisEsq and @davereaboi.”
A Wax supporter tweeted, “BREAKING: The Babylon Bee just used Twitter to fire their VP of marketing. Apparently, you have to support DeSantis to work for them.” Dillon pushed back, adamantly denying this claim.
Dillon responded on Twitter, writing, “I don’t know who most of my employees vote for and I don’t care. I do care how they conduct themselves in public with our name in their bio. His conduct was reprehensible.”
Adam Yenser, a writer for the Babylon Bee, tweeted, “I don’t know the details of this interaction, but I support Trump and still work at the Bee. No one gets fired for supporting Trump.” Yenser also wrote, “I don’t know the details of this interaction, but I support Trump and still work at the Bee. No one gets fired for supporting Trump.”
Dillon retweeted that comment along with a video of Trump from “The Apprentice,” saying, “You’re Fired.” Dillon also tweeted, “I, too, am fired,” sharing a tweet that read, “Seth, Natalie Harp from President Trump’s Office. Sharing from the President: ‘Dear Seth, it was great being with you at dinner the other night, my sons are your biggest fans, and now I know why.’”
Twitter supporters of Wax accused Pushaw of liking tweets critical of Wax that he says are false. Pushaw responded to Wax on Twitter, writing to Wax, “Nobody on the campaign ‘demanded’ anything. Maybe dropping F-bombs on a public app doesn’t fit the brant of a Christian website.”
@jakeshieldsajj This is it.
Prior to this, the DeSantis supporting Babylon Bee employees, including @ChristinaPushaw, were liking tweets making false claims about @GavinWax.
He defended himself and was immediately, publicly fired by @SethDillon, who could’ve reprimanded him privately.
However, Wax’s supporters also tweeted on his behalf. Alex Dwyer wrote in another tweet Wax shared, “@GavinWax is the most influential Young Republican in the country. I’ve talked with dozens of YR chapters who all have said ‘We want to be more like the @NYYRC.’ There’s no excuse, you keep someone with that kind of vision & talent in the building.”
Others questioned Dillon’s rationale, tweeting that the Babylon Bee has allowed expletives before:
CONCLUSION: Gavin’s firing after he used an explicative and defended himself is comical since @TheBabylonBee allows their employees to curse. I guess we can’t defend ourselves from DeSantis minions on Twitter, that’s forbidden!
Follow @ChiefTrumpster for more threads like this!
Here’s what you need to know:
Seth Dillon Demanded, ‘Take the Bee Out of Your Bio Now’ After Gavin Wax Used the ‘F’ Word in a Tweet
Wax’s May 26, 2023, tweet read, “Hey @ChristinaPushaw what’s your f****** problem?”
Dillon responded, “What’s yours?”
In second tweet, Dillon wrote, “Tweeting like this with the Bee in your bio doesn’t work for me.”
Wax responded, “Being accused of things that are false (and criminal) doesn’t work for me.”
Dillon wrote, “You can take the Bee out of your bio now.”
Right-wing attempted satire site the Babylon Bee have finally posted something funny on Twitter.
The DeSantis supporting outlet publicly fired their Trump supporting VP of marketing after he quarrelled with a DeSantis staff member.
Trumpists are now turning on the Bee in droves
The tweets have had more than 100,000 views each. Wax’s Twitter bio no longer mentions Babylon Bee.
@TaraBull808 @ChristinaPushaw has always supported DeSantis, @GavinWax clearly knows this. What justifies him flying off the handle like he did? What gives anyone a material reason think he was fired for supporting Trump? Absurd.
Before the controversy, Trump accused DeSantis of paying the Babylon Bee in a post on Truth Social. “Why is Ron DeSanctimonious paying The Babylon Bee, a non-entity, $5,000 a month, so far $21,500, if he’s not running for President? Just because his Poll Numbers are tanking, probably because of his desire to cut Social Security and Medicare, doesn’t allow him to campaign without an announcement! You don’t spend that much money on The Babylon Bee if you’re running for Governor, in fact, you don’t spend money on The Babylon Bee if you’re running for anything!”
However, on May 26, Dillon retweeted a post by Babylon Bee editor Kyle Mann that shared Babylon Bee parody articles that were critical of both Trump and DeSantis.
We’re playing both sides so we always come out on top
“We’re playing both sides so we always come out on top,” Mann tweeted.
Gavin Wax Accused Seth Dillon of Firing Him ‘Over a Political Disagreement’
Wax tweeted: “I appreciate the DeSantis supporters who have reached out saying they don’t support my firing over a political disagreement. That’s healthy, kind, and actually Christian. People reveling in someone else losing their livelihood over politics is not Christian.”
Wax retweeted David Marcus, a columnist, who wrote, “I think we oughta lay off the notion that anyone who disagrees with us has a mind virus. It’s creepy, weird, and dehumanizing. Wax responded, “Yeah. @SethDillon wanted to make an example out of me publicly, a spectacle. Then when I stood up for myself he subtlety accuses me and anyone who supported me of having a virus. Normal stuff in Jupiter, Florida!”
Wax shared a tweet from another Babylon Bee employee using an expletive and wrote, “I have no problem with my former colleagues using occasional vulgarity to express themselves. It’s normal. We are human. I think it’s wrong that I am being treated by a different set of standards and being publicly attacked by my former employer.”
Dillon responded on Twitter, “Did she work for the Bee then and have the Bee in her bio, or are those old tweets? Did you merely say a bad word? I haven’t attacked you. I’ve responded to how you publicly engage and demean others by saying I don’t want you representing us anymore.”
Wax also retweeted a share of a Dillon tweet from 2020 that read, “If you’re afraid you might get fired for speaking your mind, the solution is to speak your mind, anyway. If no one is willing to take that risk, nothing is going to change.”
Some Donald Trump Supporters & Others on Twitter Defended Gavin Wax
THREAD🧵 on @GavinWax firing and why @TheBabylonBee outrage is selective.
Gavin Wax was abruptly fired over using an explicative against a DeSantis ally. If the rules are that people who curse get fired, Babylon will have to let some people go 🚨
RT to stand with @GavinWax
However, other Wax supporters accused Babylon Bee of a double standard. One wrote, “I was initially neutral in this conflict, but the fake indignation from @TheBabylonBee about you saying the F word pushed me over the line. Many of their employees have filthier mouths than you ever did.”
Thank you.
Wax shared multiple tweets negative to Dillon in the wake of his firing. “Dillon is being destroyed in this Twitter space,” read one by columnist and author David Marcus.
Trial lawyer Robert Barnes accused Babylon Bee of joining “cancel culture.”
Gavin Mario Wax Is a ‘New York-Based Conservative Activist’ Who Heads the New York Young Republican Club & Seth Dillon’s Site Skewers Politicians From a Conservative Perspective
According to his website, “Gavin Mario Wax is a New York-based conservative activist, commentator, columnist, and operative.”
“Gavin serves as the 76th President of the New York Young Republican Club, the oldest and largest Young Republican club in the country. He was elected unanimously in April 2019 and re-elected unanimously twice in December 2020 and December 2022,” the website says.
“In 2020, Gavin was awarded the Republican Youth of the Year Award by the Queens Village Republican Club, the oldest Republican club in the country. In 2021, Gavin was recognized as a Rising Star by the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs.”
He was vice president of marketing for Babylon Bee since December 2022, his LinkedIn page says.
According to Premiere Speakers Bureau, Dillon is “the CEO of The Babylon Bee, the world’s most trusted, factually accurate news source. Taking on the tone of a traditional news media publication, the Bee satirizes real-world events and public figures.”
Popular bad ideas are still bad ideas.
That page reads, “Dillon’s experience with censorship and deplatforming has placed him on the front lines of the battle for free speech in the public square. He now speaks on college campuses and at conferences across the country about the effectiveness of humor, the moral imperative of mockery, and the dangers of censorship. He occasionally signs off Twitter to enjoy time with his wife and two sons in Juno Beach, Florida.”
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