Controversial talk show host Dr Phil rages against ‘cancel culture’ while endorsing Trump

Dr Phil has raged against “cancel culture”, during a speech at a frequently shocking and offensive campaign rally for Donald Trump at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden. 

TV psychologist Phil McGraw, who used to host the long-running talk show Dr Phil on CBS before it ended in 2023, joined former president Trump’s gathering on Sunday (27 October).

In February 2022, Dr Phil faced accusations from around a dozen current and former employees that they experienced “verbal abuse in a workplace that fosters fear, intimidation, and racism.” 

Seven other employees also claimed that the show’s guests were often manipulated and treated unethically. Attorneys for Dr Phil have categorically denied the allegations.

“Expert in bullying”

Taking to the podium, he told supporters: ”I may not be an expert in politics but I am an expert in bullying, and bullying is when you seek to harm somebody, you seek to intimidate, coerce, cause distress, fear, risk to their wellbeing.”

He added that bullying can be “physical, verbal, relational or cyber” and that “it’s always wrong.”

He continued: “I know the critics are going to say, ‘Isn’t Trump a bully?’ Let me tell you why the answer is no. To be a bully, there has to be an imbalance of power. When there’s not, it is just called a debate and he’s just better at it than anybody else.” 

Dr Phil added that “when you attack a citizen and use the power of the internet” to “cause boycotts”, then it’s “beyond ugly”. He called for a “pushback against cancel culture” and “intimidation tactics.”

After his show on CBS came to an end, Dr Phil launched his own TV network called Merit Street, and now hosts a new programmed called Dr Phil Primetime. On June 7, 2024, Dr Phil drew criticism for interviewing Trump on the show and agreeing with the former president that his hush money trial was unfair.

Many controversial figures, and their supporters, claim to have been “cancelled” or “silenced” for their views.

The idea of “cancelling” originated on Black Twitter and queer communities of colour around 2015, according to Meredith D Clark, from the University of Virginia.

“Cancelling people, places and entities was a light-hearted reaction to show distaste”, but this was quickly “seized upon by outside observers, particularly journalists with an outsized ability to amplify [their own] white gaze”, she wrote in a research article in 2020.

In 2022, an episode of Dr Phil sparked a transphobic social media pile-on after a debate was staged on the existence of trans and non-binary people.

Dr Phil’s latest speech follows Beyoncé joining vice-president Kamala Harris, Trump’s rival for the White House, at a rally in Texas on Friday (25 October), where she urged voters “to sing a new song”. 

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