Tim Pool | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Pool in 2023 | |
| Born | Timothy Daniel Pool (1986-03-09)March 9, 1986 (age 39) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
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| Last updated: September 22, 2024 | |
| Website | timcast |
Timothy Daniel Pool (born March 9, 1986) is an Americanright-wing[1][2]political commentator andpodcast host. He first became known forlive streaming the 2011Occupy Wall Street protests.[3][4] He joinedVice Media andFusion TV in 2014, later working onYouTube and other platforms.
Pool was born inChicago, Illinois, and grew up in amiddle class family. His father was a firefighter and his mother sold cars.[5] His maternal grandmother is Korean.[6]
Pool attended aCatholic school until completing the fifth grade[7] and left school at the age of 14.[5][8]
After watching a viral video fromOccupy Wall Street, Pool purchased a one-way bus ticket to New York.[9] Pool joined the Occupy Wall Street protestors on September 20, 2011. Shortly thereafter, he met Henry Ferry, a former realtor and sales manager, with whom he founded media company The Other 99.[10] Pool also began livestreaming the protests with his cell phone and quickly assumed an on-camera role.[9] Pool used a live-chat stream to respond to questions from viewers while reporting on Occupy Wall Street.[11] Pool also let his viewers direct him on where to shoot footage.[12] He modified a toy remote-controlledParrot AR.Drone foraerial surveillance and modified software for live streaming into a system called DroneStream.[13][14] In mid-November 2011, Pool broadcast live streams, one of which reached 21 hours in length, of Occupy Wall Street's eviction fromZuccotti Park.[15] Pool's use of live streaming video and aerial drones during Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011 led to an article inThe Guardian querying whether such activities could take the form of counterproductive surveillance.[14]
In January 2012, he was physically accosted by a masked assailant.[15][16] Also in January 2012, The Other 99 was disbanded following a feud between Pool and Ferry.[17][18] Pool had also planned on livestreamingoccupy protests across the United States for a documentary calledOccumentary, but it was never filmed.[9]
Pool's video taken during the protests was instrumental evidence in the acquittal of photographer Alexander Arbuckle, who had been arrested by theNYPD. The video showed that the arresting officer lied under oath, though no charges were filed.[19] While covering the NoNATO protests at the2012 Chicago summit, Pool and four others were pulled over by a dozen Chicago police officers in unmarked vehicles. The group was removed from the vehicle at gunpoint, questioned, and detained for ten minutes. The reason given by police was that the team's vehicle matched a description of another vehicle they sought.[20]
In the context of the Occupy movement, Pool's footage was aired onNBC and other mainstream networks.[10][13][21][22] According toThe Washington Post, Pool "helped demonstrate to activists that livestreaming had potential as an alternative to depending on cable news coverage".[23] He was nominated as aTime 100 personality in March 2012 for his importance to the Occupy movement, alongsideDavid Graeber,[24] asTime dubbed Pool "the eyes of the movement".[25]
In November 2011, Pool toldOn the Media, "I don't consider myself a journalist. I consider myself an activist 100%" there "to support the movement."[26] In October 2012, he toldEl País that "I'm not an activist" and described himself as a journalist.[27] In 2018, Pool said that "I don't align with Occupy Wall Street and never did".[28] In 2021, he denounced the Occupy movement as "crooked".[29]
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After joining Vice Media, Pool began producing and hosting content and developed new methods of reporting.[30] In 2013, he reported on theGezi Park protests inIstanbul withGoogle Glass.[31][30] In April 2013, Pool received aShorty Award in the "Best Journalist in Social Media" category.[32] From 2013 to 2014, while working forVice, Pool covered and live streamedthe mass protests in Ukraine that led to the collapse of theYanukovych government.[33] He also covered theFerguson unrest and covered protests in Thailand, Turkey, and Egypt.[9]
In 2014, he joinedFusion TV as Director of Media innovation and Senior Correspondent.[34][35][36]
As of 2021, Pool operates sixYouTube channels, two of which,Timcast andTim Pool, feature daily political commentary,[needs update] while a third serves as a clip channel for Pool's podcast,Timcast IRL.[37][9]
In May 2022, it was estimated that Timcast IRL generated $65,824.86 in non-advertising revenue for YouTube across 100 videos on the Timcast IRL channel from October 2020 to November 2021.[38]
Pool covered the2016 Milwaukee riots. Pool said he would leave the area and stop reporting on these events, saying he thought it was dangerous due to perceived escalating "racial tensions".[39][40]
In February 2017, Pool traveled to Sweden to investigate claims of "no-go zones" and problems with refugees in the country. He launched a crowdfunding effort to do so after U.S. presidentDonald Trump alluded to crimes related to immigration in Sweden.InfoWars writerPaul Joseph Watson offered to pay for travel costs and accommodation for any reporter "to stay in crime-ridden migrant suburbs ofMalmö."[41][42] Watson donated $2,000 to Pool's crowdfund to travel to Sweden.[9] While in Sweden, Pool largely disputed that migrant suburbs of Malmö and Stockholm were crime ridden, saying that Chicago is vastly more violent.[43][41][42] While filming inRinkeby, an "especially vulnerable area" in Stockholm, Pool alleged that he had to be escorted by police, due to purported threats to his safety. Swedish police have disputed Pool's claims, stating, "Our understanding is that he didn't receive an escort. However, he followed the police who left the place."[44] The police stated that, "When Tim Pool took out a camera and started filming, a group of young people pulled their hoods up and covered their faces and shouted at him to stop filming. The officers then told Tim Pool that it was not wise to stay there in the middle of the square and keep filming."[44]
In November 2017, Pool created his second YouTube channel,Timcast News.[45]
In 2019, podcasterJoe Rogan invited Pool onto his podcast,The Joe Rogan Experience, following an interview withTwitter founderJack Dorsey. The two criticized the banning ofalt-right commentatorMilo Yiannopoulos from Twitter, arguing that the provocateur had not truly encouraged his fans to harassGhostbusters actressLeslie Jones.[46]The Atlantic contributor Devin Gordon criticized Rogan and Pool, stating that both men demonstrated a limited understanding of Twitter, censorship, and abuse during the discussion.[47] Rogan invited Pool and Dorsey, as well as Twitter chief legal officerVijaya Gadde, back on his podcast. Pool described cases where he asserted conservatives were unfairly suspended on Twitter. In particular, Pool brought up the banning ofAlex Jones and argued that Twitter rules against misgendering transgender users is ideological. Gadde said that Twitter is a free speech platform on which punishments are based on evaluation of consistently applied harassment guidelines.[48][49]
In July 2019, Pool was invited to participate in a White House event hosting right-wing internet personalities who Trump characterized as unfairly targeted for their views.[1] Some news outlets described Pool as a spreader of a conspiracy theory about themurder of Seth Rich.[1][50]
In August 2020, Trump liked a tweet published by Pool expressing sympathy and support forKyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Illinois then facing trial on homicide charges of killing two people during theriots inKenosha, Wisconsin, for which he was ultimately acquitted.[51] Trump's son,Donald Trump Jr., retweeted a statement by Pool describing how the case of Rittenhouse had convinced Pool to vote for Trump.[52][53]
A report from the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) said that Pool was a "superspreader" offake news surrounding voter fraud before and after the2020 United States presidential election.[54]
In June 2021, Pool invited North Korean defectorYeonmi Park onto his podcast. Park claimed that North Koreans "don't know the concept of love" aside from political admiration ofKim Jong Un. Pool replied by telling her that this was "The most villainous thing I've ever heard", however an investigation by experts and journalist into Park's claims about North Korea found that she had fabricated many of her stories, including the ones she told Pool.[55]
Pool was a critic ofvaccine mandates in the COVID-19 pandemic, said he was unvaccinated,[56] and hosted COVID-19 conspiracy theorists.[57] In August 2021, he criticized New York City MayorBill de Blasio'sCOVID-19 vaccine passport mandate, as it did not have any exemptions forimmunocompromised people or people with other disabilities.[58] When Pool contracted COVID-19 in November of that year, he told his audience that he was prescribed and had takenivermectin, known to be ineffective against the virus, along withmonoclonal antibodies, an effective treatment.[56]
In April 2022, Pool andThe Daily WireCEOJeremy Boreing purchased a billboard inTimes Square to accuseTaylor Lorenz of doxxing the Twitter accountLibs of TikTok. In response, Lorenz called the billboard "so idiotic it's hilarious".[59]
In November 2022, Pool interviewed rapper and presidential candidateKanye West on his podcast,Timcast IRL. West's political advisors, Milo Yiannopoulos andwhite supremacistNick Fuentes also participated in the interview. The interview came days after West and Fuentes met with former President Trump. During the interview, West made a series ofantisemitic statements, including claims about aJewish conspiracy controlling the American government and media. Pool criticized West's comments on Jews, saying "I'm gonna disagree with you." After Pool refused to criticize Jews, West and his advisors walked out of the interview.[60][61][62]
According toThe Independent,BuzzFeed News, andThe Daily Dot, Pool has a "primarily right-wing audience".[52][63][64]
In September 2024, U.S. federal prosecutors charged two employees of Russia's state-controlled media networkRT of conspiracy to violate theForeign Agents Registration Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering and of allegedly launching a $10 million propaganda scheme that enlisted popular right-wing social media influencers. The indictment describes, but does not mention by name,Tenet Media, which has partnered with commentators Pool,Dave Rubin,Lauren Southern,Benny Johnson, Matt Christiansen, and Tayler Hansen.[65][66] Pool matches the indictment's description of "Commentator-2", who it alleges agreed to provide content to Tenet Media in exchange for "$100k per weekly episode".[67][57] In his response to the indictment on Twitter, Pool, who had previously stated that Ukraine was one of the United States' enemies,[68][69] stated that he was unaware of the company's connections to Russian funding and declared himself a victim of the alleged scheme.[66] U.S. Attorney GeneralMerrick Garland said "the company never disclosed to the influencers – or to their millions of followers – its ties to RT and the Russian government".[66]
In 2014, Pool helped launch Tagg.ly, a mobile app that watermarks photos. Pool said he was interested in this kind of application due to experiences where others used his photographs without attribution.[70][71]
In 2019, he co-founded the news company Subverse, which raised $1 million in 22 hours via regulation crowdfunding in 2019, surpassing the previous record onWefunder.[72] The service was later renamed SCNR. Pool partnered with Emily Molli and former Vice editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro, although Pool later fired both of them in January 2021.[73][74]
In 2022, he collaborated with drummerPete Parada to release two singles "Genocide (Losing My Mind)" and "Only Ever Wanted". "Only Ever Wanted" reached the No. 2 spot on the globaliTunes chart.[75] The single was most downloaded on theBillboard charts in September 2022 inAlternative Digital Song Sales.[76] Both singles reached the No. 1 spot oniTunes.
In May 2025, Pool was a guest on theBill Maher podcastClub Random.[77]
| Peak chart positions | ||||||||||
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| Year | Title | US Digital Sales[78] | Emerging Artists | US Rock[79] | US Rock and Alternative[80] | US Alternative[81] | US Alternative Digital[81] | UK Singles[82] | UK Singles Downloads[82] | Label |
| 2020 | "Will of The People"[83] | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | Trash House Records |
| 2022 | "Genocide (Losing My Mind)" (featuringPete Parada) | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | |
| "Only Ever Wanted"(featuringPete Parada) | 2 | — | 21 | 24 | 16 | 1 | 82 | 81 | ||
| 2023 | "Together Again"[84] | 6[85] | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that failed to chart or were not released | ||||||||||
Like several other "alt-right gateway" or "alt-lite" figures, Pool presents himself as a disaffected liberal in order to convey authenticity.[86] In 2019, Pool described himself as acentrist or "center libertarian left", and rejected aleft–right political paradigm for both self-description and in other contexts, instead dividing the public into those who are "discerning" and "skeptical" regarding mainstream media (which Pool describes as intertwined with left-wing politics) and those who are "undiscerning" and "uninitiated". Pool has criticized anti-fascist protestors and progressive social justice movements.[87]: 210 He had said that "the news is dying" and that in trying to appeal to young people with sensationalism, it skews towards liberal and left-leaning audiences.[87]: 211 A 2019 article in the journalTelevision & New Media analyzed Pool and two other YouTube influencers,Dave Rubin andBlaire White, as combining "micro-celebrity pratices with areactionary political standpoint".[87]: 201 Prior to Occupy Wall Street in 2011, Pool sometimes described himself as being anti-authoritarian or "pro-transparency", but not as very political.[9]
A July 2019Vice article described Pool as "a right-wing media figure", while anotherVice article from the same month described him as "lefty" and "progressive".[88][89] In 2019,Politico said Pool "describes himself as a pro-Bernie Sanderssocial liberal" but said his "views on issues including social media bias and immigration often align withconservatives'".[90]
According toAl Jazeera in 2020, "Pool has amplified claims that conservative media endure persecution and bias at the hands of tech companies."[91] On August 24, 2020, Pool announced his support forDonald Trump in the2020 United States presidential election, writing that he felt alienated by changes he perceived in the modern left.[52][73]
In 2021, theSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described Pool as a "pro-Trump social media personality" who "uses his YouTube show to showcase far-right extremists".[92] In 2022,NBC News referred to Pool as a "right-wing influencer".[93]BBC News in 2023 said Pool's podcasts "cover right-wing talking points and conspiracy theories".[94]The New York Times in 2023 described Pool's podcast as "extreme right-wing" and Pool himself as "right-wing" and a "provocateur."[95]Le Monde in 2024 described Pool as a "star influencer" of the "American far right",[96] and a 2023 article in theJournal of Quantitative Description described Pool as "extreme right".[97]
Pool has criticized aid toUkraine as a provocation againstRussia, and called Ukraine "one of the greatest enemies of our nation" in 2024, after allegations that a Ukrainian was involved in theNord Stream pipelines sabotage.[57][98] Pool supported Trump in the2024 United States presidential election.[57]
In April 2025, Pool was one of a group of podcasters who met withIsraeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu in theBlair House in Washington D.C., as part of an ongoing effort to push back against anti-Israel trends in the right-wing media world:
Among those in attendance were podcasters includingDave Rubin, Tim Pool and formerWhite House Press SecretarySean Spicer, writersBethany Mandel and David J. Harris Jr., influencerJessica Kraus,Commentary senior editorSeth Mandel andFederalist Editor-in-ChiefMollie Hemingway.
Pool expressed concerns about increased antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the pro-Trump podcasting space, according to sources in the room. Pool famously hadKanye West on his podcast, and the rapper walked out mid-interview after Pool pushed back against antisemitic comments.
Responding to Pool, Netanyahu said that is the reason he invited the group to meet with him.[99]
Pool lives inWest Virginia.[100] Prior to the Occupy movement, Pool lived with his brother inNewport News, Virginia, where he played guitar and made skateboarding videos.[9][10] Since 2025,[101] Pool has been married to producer Alison Neubauer,[102] with whom he has a daughter.[103]
While the Trump administration has generally embraced the far-right social media sphere, Thursday's event will be one of the first to bring that digital ecosystem into the real world.... Tim Pool, a YouTube personality who has pushed the false conspiracy theory that former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich leaked hacked emails to WikiLeaks, also plans to attend the event.
I went to Catholic school [...] up until I completed fifth grade, I was in Catholic school. Went to sixth grade, a public school.
So did Tim Pool, a YouTube conspiracy theorist who has suggested that Seth Rich, the former DNC staffer whose 2016 murder remains unsolved, was collaborating with Wikileaks on anti–Hillary Clinton releases.
...for a certain sect of the Make American Great Again crowd, the beanie-topped internet personality is a yuge deal.
...after users watched videos by Tim Pool and Dave Rubin, commentators popular among the right.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)There's no evidence that Garcia was inspired to action by Mr Pool's podcasts, which cover right-wing talking points and conspiracy theories. But Mr Pool immediately tried to cast doubt on the veracity of the material, accusing those digging up the material as being part of a "psyop".
However, the company has managed to attract some big names from the American far right, such as its star influencer Tim Pool... At the same time, he shifted politically, increasingly collaborating with hard-right influencers over the past 10 years.
Take, for example, Tim Pool, now an extreme-right YouTube magnate..."
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