YouTuber and political commentator Carl Benjamin says he is concerned for the welfare of Jess Phillips after she was confronted by a pro-Palestine mob at her General Election vote count.
The Labour MP took to the stage in Birmingham Yardley after winning the seat, but faced abuse from activists over her stance on the Gaza conflict.
Speaking on GBN America, Benjamin said the demographic composition of her constituency could lend itself to trouble, with a large proportion feeling passionate about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“We find ourselves essentially held hostage to very angry gangs of people”, he said.
Carl Benjamin says he is concerned for Phillips's safety
PARLIAMENT / GBN AMERICA
“This is why I think there was a genuine fear in Jess Phillips’s face then she was explaining what happened to her recently.
“When you have large, loud and illiberal men shouting at you, who have already intimidated her, they’ve slashed one of her campaigner’s tyres. I mean, this is just too far.
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“This is, I have to say, on a personal level, I am worried for Jess Phillips’s safety because her constituency is 40 per cent Muslim and it only takes one person to take the Israel-Palestine conflict too far.
“Something terrible could happen.”
Phillips admitted she found the election campaign “absolutely horrible” after enduring abuse throughout.
She was re-elected with a majority of just 693, having faced competition from a Workers Party candidate on a pro-Gaza ticket.
Carl Benjamin spoke to Steve Edginton on GBN America
GBN AMERICA
Reflecting on her efforts to get re-elected, she told Sky News: “It was an absolutely horrible campaign”.
“[There were] people being intimidated, people being told that God will judge them if they vote a certain way.”
Phillips said those standing on a pro-Gaza ticket were “deplorable”, accusing them of “bullying and picking on mainly women”.
Earlier in the GBN America interview, Benjamin addressed his personal conduct relating to Jess Phillips.
Jess Phillips was interrupted in her victory speech in Birmingham by pro-Palestine protestersChannel 4 / XThe YouTuber joked in 2016 that he “wouldn’t even rape” Phillips and then in 2019 posted an online video stating “with enough pressure I might cave”.
Benjamin apologised for the remark and even told GBN America he would take up the opportunity to speak to Phillips in person if given the opportunity.
He said offering an unconditional apology was “the right thing to do”, and this became clear to him after a “long period of growth and reflection”.
“I’ve become a father many times over”, he said.
“I’ve got myself a good education now and I'm a business owner and I look around now at the man that I was then, and I think about the man I am now and all of the responsibilities I have and the kind of social fabric we're living in.
"I realised that, yes, I was contributing to this.
"So it is with without any kind of reservation, I'd like to say I am sorry to Jess Phillips, and I shouldn't have made such a rude and obviously offensive statement.”
