Censorship on the left is a proposition John Kiriakou advanced in January 2026, while defending the decision to broadcast on Rumble against viewers who objected that the platform is owned by conservatives.
The occasion
The question put to the show was whether alternatives such as Rumble might displace the established platforms. Kiriakou thought there was a chance: a lot of people are tired of YouTube controlling what they get to see and what they get to say, and are looking for alternatives — “That’s why we’re doing so well on Rumble.”[1]
Rall reported being trolled for appearing there on the grounds of its ownership, and dismissed the objection.[2]
Kiriakou’s evidence
Kiriakou answered it from his own byline history rather than in principle. Having worked for conservative outlets, he said, “I got I got censored a lot less on Forbes and for and at Fortune magazine than I ever did by The Nation and Mother Jones, who were brutal to me.”[2]
Rall’s generalisation followed — “your own side tends to censor you more” — and Kiriakou’s assent was one word: “Crazy.”[2][3]
The mechanism
The explanation Rall gave, and which Kiriakou completed, is about categorisation rather than ideology. If the Wall Street Journal invites a leftist on, it knows what he is and does not try to squash him or turn him into a conservative. At The Nation, the reaction is that he is a leftist but not the right kind of leftist, and must be massaged — at which point Kiriakou supplied the missing phrase, “You’ve got to be a DNC lefty,” and Rall confirmed it twice.[3]
The exchange belongs with the show’s running argument about why two self-described leftists were being paid by a right-wing video platform after being demonetised elsewhere.