Cenk Uygur Eviscerated by an Iranian Activist on Piers Morgan Uncensored

Key Takeaways: 

• Conspiracy over conscience: Cenk Uygur used a mass Iranian uprising for freedom to push the Islamic Republic’s own propaganda, claiming Israel was behind the protests and denying Iranians their agency.

• A pattern of extremism apologism: From questioning the Armenian Genocide to platforming neo-Nazis, trafficking in antisemitic tropes, and rationalizing Hamas terror, Uygur’s record reflects consistent indulgence toward violent ideologies.

• Hypocrisy exposed: While posing as human-rights advocates, Uygur and Ana Kasparian echo regime talking points that justify repression—prompting Iranian activists to publicly rebuke them and underscoring why they should not be treated as credible voices on Iran.

When Cenk Uygur, the founder and longtime host of The Young Turks, appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored this week, he offered yet another demonstration of why he has become one of the most reliable conduits for Islamist apologism in Western media.

Uygur was memorably described as a “barbarian” by U.S. Congressman Randy Fine during a previous appearance on the program. It was a blunt assessment, but not an inaccurate one.

After all, what defines a barbarian if not someone who repeatedly aligns himself with the most violent, intolerant, and genocidal ideologies of the modern era while simultaneously presenting himself as a moral authority?

Uygur’s record is extensive and well-documented.

Over the years, the Turkish-born commentator has:

• Publicly questioned whether the Armenian Genocide occurred
• Hosted former Ku Klux Klan leader and neo-Nazi David Duke on his show
• Repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic tropes, including claims that “Israel controls Congress”
• Minimized or rationalized Islamist violence, including describing Hamas terrorism as “resistance”

This is not a matter of isolated misstatements or youthful errors. It is a consistent ideological posture: peddling anti-Israel falsehoods, indulgence toward Islamist movements, and contempt for liberal democratic norms – particularly when they conflict with his worldview.

On Morgan’s Uncensored YouTube show, Uygur sank to another low.

As millions of Iranians have taken to the streets in the largest anti-regime uprising in decades – and as the Islamic Republic prepares public executions while thousands are believed to have been killed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Uygur suggested that the unrest was being driven by Israel and that Israel was pressuring the United States to intervene.

It is conspiracy masquerading as serious analysis. By recasting a mass Iranian revolt as a foreign plot, Uygur echoed the Islamic Republic’s own propaganda – one that denied Iranians any agency and serves to justify their violent repression.

It was left to Iranian political analyst and activist Goldie Ghamari to dismantle Uygur’s claims in a swift and decisive takedown.

Uygur, she said, “has no idea what’s going on in occupied Iran” and was spreading “garbage jihadi Islamist propaganda.”

1/
Watch this clip carefully.

On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Cenk Uygur claims Iran’s uprising against the Islamic regime is really Israel stoking unrest and dragging the U.S. in.@gghamari dismantles him… brutally.

As Iranians are jailed and killed, Uygur echoes regime denial. pic.twitter.com/Yy3SR6aKqD

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 14, 2026

She explained that Iranians are not protesting at the behest of Israel or the United States, but because they see this moment as existential. She described the uprising as an attempt to correct what many Iranians view as the catastrophic mistake of 1979, when an Islamic coup replaced Iran’s constitutional monarchy.

As she noted, Iran prior to 1979 was not a totalitarian religious dictatorship, but a constitutional monarchy – one that, like Britain, combined tradition with parliamentary governance. At present, many protesters have openly expressed support for Reza Pahlavi as a transitional figure they trust to guide Iran from theocracy to democracy.

Whether one agrees with every aspect of the vision is beside the point. What matters is that Iranians themselves are articulating it, at enormous personal risk.

The Young Turks: Dumb and Dumber

The protests in Iran have exposed an uncomfortable truth: many figures within the pro-Palestinian activist ecosystem who claim deep moral concern about bloodshed suddenly lose all interest when violence does not serve their ideological narrative. When Islamist regimes murder their own people, silence or deflection replaces outrage.

Uygur’s illiteracy and conspiracy-mongering on Iran are matched only by those of his The Young Turks co-host, Ana Kasparian, who styles herself a feminist and human-rights advocate. Yet Kasparian has repeatedly embarrassed herself by echoing arguments that minimize or excuse the Islamic Republic’s brutality.

That hypocrisy was laid bare when Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad confronted Kasparian over her claim that Israel is driving Iran’s uprising. Alinejad did not hedge or equivocate. She stated a fact: Kasparian was repeating the very lines the regime uses to justify repression and violence against its own people.

1/7@AnaKasparian is trending after wrecking a men’s rights activist in a feminism debate.

Kasparian is a senior host on @TheYoungTurks, a platform with millions of viewers, where she opines confidently on Iran, Israel, feminism, and U.S. foreign policy.

That influence matters.… pic.twitter.com/5RGovMKUho

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 13, 2026

Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian may profess solidarity with Iranians fighting for their freedom, but their words tell a different story.

Claims that “Israel is behind it,” that “Israel benefits from regime change,” or that Iranian protesters are pawns in a Zionist plot are not just conspiratorial nonsense. They are profoundly patronizing and deeply offensive to the Iranian people.

They deny Iranians agency. They reduce millions of brave men and women to tools – either of Israel, of the United States, or of shadowy Jewish power.

And they reveal something else: that for figures like Uygur and Kasparian, spreading anti-Israel conspiracy theories matters more than the women beaten to death for defying the hijab, more than the men hanging from cranes in Tehran, more than the lives being extinguished in the streets of Iran.

Those people are invisible to them.

Which is why Western media should stop platforming Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian as voices on Iran. They have shown, repeatedly, that they do not understand the country, do not respect its people, and do not care about their freedom, unless it can be weaponized against Israel.

Iranians deserve better. And so does journalism.

Liked this article? Follow HonestReporting on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to see even more posts and videos debunking news bias and smears, as well as other content explaining what’s really going on in Israel and the region. Get updates direct to your phone. Join our WhatsApp and Telegram channels!