Dave Smith | |
---|---|
![]() Smith at 2022 Revolution hosted by Young Americans for Liberty | |
Born | David Smith April 20, 1983 New York City, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Political commentator, comedian, podcaster |
Political party | Libertarian [1] [2] |
Other political affiliations | Mises Caucus |
Spouse | Lauren Smith |
Children | 2 |
Website | comicdavesmith |
David Smith (born April 20, 1983) is an American comedian, podcaster, and political commentator who hosts the libertarian podcast Part of the Problem. [3] [4] [5]
Smith is a close friend of Joe Rogan and a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience . He has frequently appeared on Fox News' Kennedy , [6] [7] The Greg Gutfeld Show, [8] [9] [10] and CNN's S.E. Cupp: Unfiltered , and has also appeared on the Lex Fridman podcast, among others. [11] Smith is a member of the Mises Caucus of the Libertarian Party. [12]
According to Smith, he was raised in Brooklyn, New York City, by his single mother. [13] [14] Smith is Jewish from both of his parents sides, his maternal grandmother was Holocaust survivor. [15] [16] His grandfather was a refugee from Germany, as he describes him as "a Jew who was basically born in the worst place at the wrong time". [17] His grandfather enlisted in the US Army and fought in World War II. his stepfather fought in Vietnam.
He hosts the Part of the Problem podcast and cohosts the comedy podcast Legion of Skanks . [3] [8] [18] [19] According to PorcFest, Part of the Problem is one of the top two libertarian podcasts in the world. [20] On Part of the Problem, Smith has interviewed political figures such as Vivek Ramaswamy [21] and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [22] Smith has also made repeated appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and Timcast and is considered to be a close friend of Rogan's. [23] [24] [3]
He was the MC for FreedomFest, a libertarian festival, in 2021, [25] and a featured speaker there in 2022. [26] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Smith was running the Libertarian Party's social media in 2022, [26] but he has denied this saying that he only "helped with the Twitter". [27]
Smith considered running in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries but ultimately decided against it. [22] He also declined to run as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vice presidential candidate, citing Kennedy's staunch support for Israel in its Gaza war. [22] Smith spoke at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention. [28]
Smith is a member of the Mises Caucus of the Libertarian Party. [12] [29] [30] Smith said in a 2017 Reason interview that he "became a libertarian through the Ron Paul movement". [31] He has opposed what he sees as big tech hegemony, describing it as "the biggest threat to liberty" aside from the "tyranny of COVID-19". [32] He believes vaccine mandates are an infringement of personal liberty [33] and told Reason in 2021 that he did not plan to vaccinate himself or his child against COVID-19. [32] [34] Smith defended the Libertarian Party of Kentucky when it criticized proposed vaccine passports by comparing them to yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear. [35] Reason described him as "a vocal opponent of wokeness and political correctness". [32] An admirer of the anarcho-capitalist economist Murray Rothbard, he told Reason that, like Rothbard, he would abolish government if he could. [36]
Smith has been noted for interviews and debates with people on the far-right, such as Gavin McInnes, [37] [38] Nick Fuentes, Richard Spencer, and Christopher Cantwell. [37] [13] [26] Smith has called Fuentes a "fellow traveler", according to the SPLC[ clarification needed ]. [26] In 2021, The New Republic called Smith "a Nazi sympathizer". [37] The SPLC[ clarification needed ] noted that Smith is Jewish and has disagreed with far-right figures on the creation of a white ethnostate and the alt-right's tactics. [13] The SPLC[ clarification needed ] said that while debating with Fuentes, Smith argued for "hard-right libertarian viewpoints". [13] In an interview with Nick Gillespie, Smith defended his friendliness toward alt-right figures, saying "People who listen to my podcasts have no doubt about where I stand on all of these issues" and said that his libertarian beliefs are "the antithesis of National Socialism." [18]
Smith has said he did not support the 2024 Libertarian Party nominee, Chase Oliver, claiming that Oliver did not do enough to fight COVID-19 policies, such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates. [39]
In 2024 Smith endorsed Donald Trump and said that he would vote for Trump. [32] Smith cited Trump's promise made at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention to "...commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht on the first day [of being elected president]..." as a major part of his reasoning for voting for Trump. Smith also said on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience after Trump had been declared the winner of the presidential election that Trump "...better follow through on that promise and free Ross, because a lot of libertarians got behind Trump because of that promise..." [40] Ulbricht received a full pardon from President Trump on January 21, 2025. [41] In an interview with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on Breaking Points on June 16, 2025, Smith expressed regret for voting for Trump and called for Trump to be impeached and removed from office due to the possibility of him getting the US into a war with Iran. [42]
Smith has strong anti-Zionist views and frequently debates the issue, including against English neoconservative Douglas Murray. [43]
Smith has two children with his wife, Lauren. [44]
Smith ... has long invited extremists and hard right and fringe figures –including HotepJesus –on his podcast, "Part of the Problem" (PotP).
I don't run the party's social media. That's just not true. I've helped with the Twitter. That's it. I don't even run the Twitter. Most of the tweets aren't from me.
In 2017, Dave Smith used a TGMS guest-hosting spot to interview Richard Spencer and Christopher Cantwell, giving both a friendly platform to lay out their vision for a white ethnostate.
Smith is connected to white nationalist Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes and appeared on Pool's show in September.
True to his word, @ComicDaveSmith apologizes for his Trump support and even calls for Trump's impeachment and removal!! after Trump helps launch Iran War.
Murray is a neoconservative intellectual and one of the most prominent public defenders of Israel; Smith is an anti-war libertarian comedian and firm anti-Zionist. The conflict in Gaza has provided a clear fault line for their differences to be exposed.