Andy Ngo has flown the Quillette nest.
The Portland-based provocateur, famous for his hate crime-debunking Twitter threads, CCTV coverage of Antifa protests and narrative-driven writing on Islam, left his role as subeditor for the Australian Intellectual Dark Web magazine this week.
The circumstances of his departure are unclear, but the timing is suspect: last Thursday a Portland Mercury reporter circulated a video that shows Ngo near to members of the far-right group Patriot Prayer immediately prior to a violent clash with Antifa. Ngo himself is yet to comment.
This clip, shot right before Patriot Prayer arrived at Cider Riot on May Day, is the clearest evidence I've seen supporting the claim that PP & leader Joey Gibson were intent on instigating a fight that afternoon. https://t.co/G1iM9XUDi2
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) August 22, 2019
Quillette editor Claire Lehmann said this was a coincidence. ‘Andy actually moved on from Quillette a few weeks ago because he is undertaking bigger & better projects, we just hadn’t updated the website and he hadn’t updated his Twitter bio until today,’ Lehmann wrote in an email to the Daily Beast. She clarified by tweet that he had been off work ‘since July, after sustaining a traumatic brain injury.’
I want to address unfounded speculation about @MrAndyNgo's departure from @Quillette: Andy has been off work for @Quillette since July, after sustaining a traumatic brain injury. He is now moving onto bigger & better projects, & we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
— Claire Lehmann (@clairlemon) August 27, 2019
What might those bigger and better projects be? Well, Ngo appeared on Spectator columnist James Delingpole’s YouTube channel today, and is set to speak on a panel with Tim Pool in New Jersey this weekend. Beyond that…well, Cockburn is in no position to offer anyone life advice. But based on the age-old maxim of ‘those who can, do, those who can’t teach’, allow him to offer a few ideas of roles that might suit the ngext big thing in conservative media.
Fox News contributor
Andy is already a regular on the president’s (former) favorite network, appearing on everything from Tucker Carlson to Fox & Friends. Fox viewers can’t get enough of hearing about the ills of Antifa. Surely Ngo is perfectly poised to sign a six-figure contributor contract to corner that cottage industry?
Writing a very selectively edited book about Portland
Most members of the media on a time-out are working on their debut tome: why would Ngo be any different? Cockburn can see it now: Ngobody Cares: a Brief History of Portland and the Left. You could sell a special edition that comes wrapped in a face mask. It promotes itself.
Going on Hajj to Mecca
If a trip to ‘Islamic England‘ was enough to send Andy into a frenzy, imagine his travelogue from al-Ka’bah al-Musharrafah, as an imam stares into the lens of his camera and tells him ‘there is ngo god but Allah.’ He could shoot enough GoPro footage to make a full-length documentary!
New York Times opinion columnist
Andy has the makings of a J.D. Bennet hire: unafraid to demonstrate the Times‘s commitment to ideological flexibility by ribbing the left, undeterred by the fact-checking process. Bari Weiss and Bret Stephens would welcome him with open arms. Plus Cockburn hears the healthcare package is very competitive.
Teaching a journalism course at NYU
can do it, and you can basically make up your own rules. Why not?!
