Clementine Ford has rejected any notion she would debate ‘Nazi sympathiser’ Milo Yiannopoulos and has slammed the coverage of his upcoming Australian tour.
Last week the former Breitbart editor labelled Ford ‘vindictive, spiteful’ and ‘particularly unintelligent’ and invited her to debate him at one of his events.
The author responded on Twitter on Sunday evening, dismissing the prospect of her appearing alongside the ‘racist and homophobic’ Yiannopoulos.
‘I would never legitimise Milo’s existence or his Nazi links by appearing anywhere with him,’ Ford tweeted.
‘And I am especially not interested in boosting his evidently saggy ticket sales by helping him court controversy.’
Clementine Ford (right) has rejected any notion she would debate ‘Nazi sympathiser’ Milo Yiannopoulos (left) and has slammed the coverage of his upcoming Australian tour
The author responded on Twitter on Sunday evening, dismissing the prospect of her appearing alongside the ‘racist and homophobic’ Yiannopoulos
Ford did not hold back with her sentiments towards Yiannopoulos
Last week the former Breitbart editor labelled Ford ‘vindictive, spiteful’ and ‘particularly unintelligent’ and invited her to debate him at one of his events
Ford did not hold back with her sentiments towards Yiannopoulos, referencing his past links to Neo-Nazi groups, his disturbing comments on relationships between children and men and his overarching inflammatory views.
‘You might have heard of Milo from such hits as ‘banned from Twitter for inciting a racist mob against Leslie Jones’ and ‘feminism is cancer’,’ she tweeted.
‘Oh, and don’t forget ‘Islam is AIDS’ and also that time he said that sexual r/ships between men and underage boys were fine.’
Yiannopoulos, who rose to infamy thanks to his views of a xenophobic and sexist nature, often uses his sexual orientation and cultural background to justify his words and shield himself from criticism.
Ford objected to this and the continual platform he is given by the media, saying it is organisations being ‘complicit with Nazism.
‘Milo might be gay and married to a black man but it doesn’t stop him from being homophobic and racist. His misogyny speaks for itself,’ she said.
‘The conclusion I am led to is that the men driving this promotion ~even if just for clicks~ genuinely don’t care about promoting a racist.’
Yiannopoulos, who rose to infamy thanks to his views of a xenophobic and sexist nature, often uses his sexual orientation and cultural background to justify his words and shield himself from criticism
Ford objected to this and the continual platform he is given by the media, saying it is organisations being ‘complicit with Nazism
Ford objected to this and the continual platform he is given by the media, saying it is organisations being ‘complicit with Nazism
Ford did not hold back with her sentiments towards Yiannopoulos, referencing his past links to Neo-Nazi groups, his disturbing comments on relationships between children and men and his overarching inflammatory views
Yiannopoulos last week said he feels sorry for the ‘poor lamb’ and insulted her intelligence.
‘Clementine is a sort of useful idiot. She’s one of those people who doesn’t really understand what she’s parroting,’ Yiannopoulos said.
‘She obviously reads American blogs and watches American culture wars and thinks she can reproduce that in Australia.
‘She strikes me as particularly unintelligent and misguided. I feel for her, the poor lamb. Hopefully she’ll accept my invitation to debate.’
Yiannopoulos, who revealed earlier this month he wanted to debate the polarising figure, said he didn’t think the challenge would be accepted.
‘Of course not. She’s terrified of me and she knows she’ll lose the debate – but let’s see,’ he said.
‘Maybe I’ll doorstop her – maybe I’ll show up and try to get an interview on camera.’
Yiannopoulos (pictured in New York in April) told Mark Latham’s Outsiders program this month he wanted to debate the polarising figure but didn’t think the challenge would be accepted
Ford has lashed out at Yiannopoulos on social media in the past, calling him ‘Milo Whinopoulos’ and saying he ‘can go f*** himself’.
She slammed him for pronouncing her name as ‘Clementeen’ and said: ‘It’s tyne, like Milo has a tyne-y brain’.
Yiannopoulos pronounced her name the same way speaking to Daily Mail Australia this week.
Ford has also described Yiannopoulos as a ‘liar’ and as a threat to women, girls and transgender people and suggested Trump voters would not buy his book because they cannot read.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Ford for comment.
Yiannopoulos’ highly controversial views have seen him banned from Twitter and depart from his role with conservative website Breitbart News.
Yiannopoulos stops to take a picture after speaking during a free speech rally at U.C. Berkeley last month
From opposing gay marriage – despite being openly homosexual and married to his partner – to his criticism of the transgender rights agenda and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, his ideas are often divisive.
He has previously likened feminism to cancer and Islam to AIDS, while sparked outrage when he said sexual relationships between underage boys and men could be consensual.
Ahead of his upcoming Australian tour, his opponents started a petition demanding Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton deny Yiannopoulos a visa.
As of Monday, it had attracted just over 1,000 signatures.
A counter-petition, set up by political commentator Mark Latham, has been signed well over 11,000 times.
From opposing gay rights to his comments on transgender issues and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, Yiannopoulos ‘ ideas are often divisive
‘Aren’t they sweet? The best they could do was marshal 900 people to sign that petition,’ Yiannopoulos said.
‘I just find it adorable and charming when people get so upset about a gay man having the wrong opinions and telling the wrong jokes.’
Yiannopolous will bring his Troll Academy Tour to Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast from December 1.
‘The response had been absolutely amazing. We’ve just announced a second show in Sydney – the first one sold out in a couple of weeks,’ he said.