A video of a drunk male Karen in California is circulating online right now, and shows him getting increasingly angry with some No Kings protestors because one of their signs grazed his leg. Not only is the guy incredibly rude, but he also comes across as deeply xenophobic, while completely misunderstanding what the protestors are trying to say to him.
The clip takes place outside of a bar in California, as revealed by the numberplate of the vehicle in the footage, and is recorded by one of the protestors. At the start of the video, we get a glimpse of the sign that the demonstrators have made: “Immigrants pay taxes, billionaires don’t“. The camera then pans to the male Karen as he exits the bar, but the sign has blown over and has landed on his leg. Though it seems like an overreaction, the man stands in shock, as if the sign brushing against his leg has totally ruined his day. “Please take that off me. Let’s see what that sh*t says. Yeah, you guys realize immigrants are not allowed to f*cking be here.”
This statement is wholly incorrect as not all immigrants are illegal. This is exactly what the protestors attempt to convey to the man, though he just doesn’t get it. He does begin adding the word “illegal” to clarify things, but his original statement is false. “They’re illegal immigrants. So how the f*ck are they allowed to be here? Answer that f*cking question. If they’re illegal, why the f*ck are they allowed to be here?” he yells, as he begins to lose his cool. It’s worth noting, that the sign simply states “immigrants” and not “illegal immigrants”.
“Can you see anywhere on that sign where it says illegal?” asks one of the demonstrators, calmly. This doesn’t placate the male Karen, however. “I don’t give a sh*t what it does. Are they allowed to be here? Yes or no?” fires the man. “Yeah, they are allowed to be here.” responds the protestor. “Says who?” utters the Chelsea fan. To this, the demonstrator says, “the Law“. The man then laughs in her face, and disagrees.
“No it doesn’t. Did you just say illegal immigrants are allowed to be here?” though it’s clear that the protestor is talking about immigrants, and not illegal immigrants, so the man is simply trying to put words in her mouth. “No, I said the sign doesn’t say illegal.” While she says this another protestor gently pushes the man away as he seems to be getting quite combative. “You’re being a little bit aggressive.” As the altercation intensifies, the protestor clarifies again, “Does it say illegal anywhere? Are you illiterate?“
The next part is quite telling, as the drunk man then takes issue with another statement on the sign. “Don’t billionaires pay the most?” says the confused male Karen. “They don’t actually.” responds one of the protestors. It’s important to note that the demonstrators are correct with this, as billionaires in the US pay a smaller tax rate than most teachers and nurses, according to Oxfam America.
Once the man is called out, he starts to call the protestors names, revealing his real male Karen side. “What do you pay, you stupid f*cking b*tch?” before rambling on for a while and yelling, “You guys are stupid pieces of sh*t.” as he walks off. Seriously, the ending makes the man look even more ignorant and rude than I initially thought, as he shouts things like “You’re a stupid b*tch! Look at you! How stupid you look!“
As expected, the internet had a field day in the comments section as they denounced the male Karen’s ignorance. One Redditor expressed, “You know the more I see this ignorance, the less gravity it holds. Just grown children really” while another added, “Idk, it never fails to amaze me just how effective the GOP has been on their mission to take money out of schools. They’ve created these people on purpose to be ignorant and angry by spoon feeding them a steady diet of people to hate and billionaires to adore. This is what they want when they defund education. All this talk of defending police funding, but they have zero qualms of removing opportunities from the youngest Americans, with the most to gain and lose, and they will be left behind in the 21st century“.
Other comments came in, with one writing, “A racist in a Chelsea shirt… Well now I’ve seen it all.” and another penning, “Wearing a drogba jersey while being racist is hilarious the depth of stupidity always makes me laugh.”
At the end of the day, this is just one of many incidents that highlight some of the ongoing tensions that are happening in the US right now. Hopefully, this male Karen will realize that what he said was wrong and deeply xenophobic, as there’s a big difference between an immigrant and an illegal immigrant.
