December 14, 2017

The Guy Who Repealed Net Neutrality Caught Dancing in Video with Pizzagate Conspiracy Theorist

FCC Chair Ajit Pai is really something.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai during the net neutrality vote. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially voted to repeal net neutrality Thursday, handing telecom companies a massive win. The move can largely be credited to FCC chairman Ajit Pai, who was appointed to lead the commission by the Trump administration in January. Pai has made numerous media appearances promoting the repeal ahead of this week’s final vote, including, it turns out, dancing in a video produced by conservative news site Daily Caller with a woman who supported the Pizzagate conspiracy theory during the 2016 election. 

The video’s premise is to show all the things you can still do once net neutrality is repealed. Apparently, one of those things is to “still ruin memes,” a segment during which Pai does the Harlem Shake. One of the women, a Twitter user pointed out on Thursday, is a Daily Caller staffer who had previously supported the conspiracy theory in a video on her YouTube page. The video has since been taken down, according to Gizmodo. 

What’s clear is that Pai doesn’t seem to be taking the repeal too seriously. In addition to the video, after FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn made a passionate case marking her disappointment with the net neutrality repeal on Thursday, Pai mocked her remarks. “Thank you Commissioner Clyburn. I’m going to mark you down as a ‘no’ then?” he said, laughing.

As we’ve previously reported, repealing net neutrality would give internet service providers the ability to control whether some websites have faster or slower internet speeds, including charging consumers and companies more for internet access—a move opposed by the large majority of Americans, including among Republicans. Pai could also be the decisive voice behind a massive media merger with tremendous consequences for local news.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate