Dean Withers
Dean Withers | |
|---|---|
 Withers at Texas A&M University in 2025 | |
| Born | September 1, 2004 Grand Junction, Colorado, U.S. |
| Known for | Online political debates |
Political party | Democratic |
| Movement | Liberalism |
| Instagram information | |
| Page | |
| Years active | 2024–present |
| Genre | Politics |
| Followers | 3.6 million |
| TikTok information | |
| Page | |
| Years active | 2022–present |
| Genre | Politics |
| Followers | 7.0 million |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2023–present |
| Genre | Politics |
| Subscribers | 863k |
| Views | 99.5 million |
| Last updated: July 24, 2026 | |
Dean Withers (born September 1, 2004[1]) is an American liberal commentator and live streamer on TikTok and YouTube.[2] He gained prominence starting in 2023 for challenging conservative viewpoints on societal issues through debates shared via TikTok. He has been featured on Jubilee Media's YouTube series Surrounded, where he has engaged in political debates with conservatives.
Life and career
[edit]Withers grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado,[3] with conservative family members, leading him to hold conservative views in his early life.[4][5][1] Withers has said that his father is an engineer, his mother was often unemployed, and that he has two older siblings. He has also said that his parents divorced during his adolescence, that his family experienced financial difficulties, and that he attended church three times a week and a private Catholic school from preschool through eighth grade. After school, he played video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Although he could not yet vote, he considered himself a supporter of Donald Trump. He later shared that this conservative environment pushed him to learn about the opposing political spectrum which caused his shift toward a liberal political ideology.[1] He is agnostic, but stated he was raised Catholic.[6]
After graduating from Grand Junction High School, Withers began posting political content on social media in 2022 on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights.[1] Leading up to the 2024 United States presidential election, Jubilee Media featured Withers in two episodes of their Surrounded series on YouTube.[4] He debated Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro during these videos.
Following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, Withers posted a video in which he said “i am sad, distraught”, and said that gun violence "is always disgusting, always vile and always abhorrent".[7]
Controversies
[edit]Shortly after one of his appearances in a Jubilee episode where he debated Trump supporters, he was criticized online when racist and homophobic messages from 2019 and 2022 were uncovered. Withers later confirmed the messages were real and issued an apology.[8]
Following an online dispute in July 2025, Withers was accused of doxing another content creator and encouraging viewers to contact Child Protective Services (CPS) on a livestream. He denied doxing the creator, stating he had only shared publicly available information.[9]
In April 2026, Withers alleged that CBS News had filmed a debate with him in Washington, D.C. involving a MAGA influencer, but never aired the segment. He claimed Bari Weiss, who took over CBS News in October 2025, had shelved the production. CBS did not publicly respond to his claims.[10][11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Holtermann, Callie (December 19, 2024). "Could This 20-Year-Old Be One of the Democrats' Bro Whisperers?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
- ↑ Tomslee, Don (September 11, 2025). "Dean Withers, Charlie Kirk's rival and liberal commentator's response on his assassination goes viral". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
- ↑ Calkins, Marie. "GJHS grad on path as political influencer". Archived from the original on April 24, 2025. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- 1 2 Lindsay, Kate (November 13, 2024). "'Woke Teen' Dean Withers Debated 20 Trump Voters at Once. Now He Has a Message for Liberals". GQ. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024.
- ↑ Mather, Katie (October 29, 2024). "How a former Trump supporter became YouTube's viral 'woke teen'". Yahoo News. Yahoo. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ↑ "i'm agnostic now, however i was confirmed at 16, after 12 years of catholic school. i think i have a decent idea". Twitter. May 8, 2025.
- ↑ "Charlie Kirk: Young fans and critics debate his political legacy". BBC News. September 12, 2025. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Jubilee star Dean Withers issues apology after racist and homophobic posts resurface". Screenshot Media. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
- ↑ "Who is Dean Withers? Streamer accused of doxing another streamer and calling CPS in viral controversy". The Times of India. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
- ↑ "Dean Withers Slams CBS Over Unreleased Washington DC Debate Footage". The Nerd Stash. April 27, 2026.
- ↑ "Dean Withers accuses CBS of 'censoring the truth' after his brutal debate scrapped from air". The Mirror. April 25, 2026.
