Imagine debating 20 Donald Trump supporters by yourself and going viral for it. (FYI, could never be me). That’s exactly what 20-year old Dean Withers did. You’ve probably seen clips of the blonde Tom Holland lookalike all over your TikTok FYP in the past week — however, he’s been engaging in politics for a while now. In fact, his entire social media platform is built around political debates with right-wing conservatives.
The video Withers is currently going viral for came from the account Jubilee, a YouTube channel that is dedicated to building civil discourse on hot-button topics. In the video, posted on Sept. 20, Withers engages in heated discussions with Trump supporters surrounding statements such as “Democrats are more patriotic than Republicans” and “Kamala Harris would be a better President than Donald Trump.” The nearly two-hour-long video is basically a montage of Withers facing down people who hold very different beliefs from him — and according to much of the internet, he ate them up. (“This young man’s ability to hold himself together, remain respectful but still stand up strongly for his beliefs,” one YouTube commenter wrote.)
As of Sept. 26, the video has 7.5 million views on YouTube, as well as numerous clips on TikTok and X racking up millions of additional views. Basically, Withers has seemingly turned into a liberal star overnight.
But there’s a lot more to know about this Gen Z content creator. Let’s get into it.
Dean Withers has been active in the political space on social media for years.
Although his TikTok following has been growing quickly since the Jubilee video (he’s currently at more than 760,000 followers), Withers has been sharing political content that challenges conservative ideologies and comments on social issues such as reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights since 2022.
Before the Jubilee video, Withers was best known for his TikTok livestreams in which he invites conservatives to debate him on U.S. politics and presidential candidates’ views on policies and issues. He also shares videos of himself interviewing ring-wing conservatives on the streets of Los Angeles.
What’s Next for Dean Withers?
Since the viral debate, Withers has continued with his normal social media content and debates. He also called on TikTok star Bryce Hall to debate him, after TikTok political content creator Harry Sisson did before him. Hall has yet to respond to either creators on their debate offers.
On X, Withers has tweeted that right-wing political commentator and political content creator Tim Pool has invited him onto his podcast, The Culture Wars. Currently, Pool has made no posts or tweets about having Withers on his podcast.
Since the viral Jubilee video, Withers has also taken his debates to other platforms. On Sept. 24, he did his first X audio livestream debate which garnered more than 38,000 listeners where he debated one-on-one on topics similar to those from the Jubilee video. It’s likely his following — and his content — will continue to grow.