Alex Stein | |
|---|---|
 Stein in 2022 | |
| Born | October 8, 1986 |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University |
| Years active | 2011–present |
Alex Stein (born October 8, 1986) is an American YouTube personality and comedian known for disrupting local government meetings and confronting both politicians and private citizens.[1][2][3][4] He is the host of Prime Time with Alex Stein on Glenn Beck's Blaze Media network.[5][6]
Stein was born to Kelly Stein and Rhett Stein, a bail bondsman.[1] Stein grew up in Dallas, Texas. He is Jewish, but told the Jewish Journal that he did not get a bar mitzvah "or any of the cool Jewish stuff as a kid".[3] Stein described being "obsessed with spy stuff" as a child, which he said led to his enjoyment of conspiracy theories.[3]
Stein went to Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas.[7] After high school, he attended Louisiana State University.[1]
Stein moved to Los Angeles after graduating college to pursue a comedy career. He later moved back to Dallas and worked at selling used cars with his father.[1]
Stein began his career in 2011 by producing and participating in food challenge videos on YouTube.[8][third-party source needed] In 2012, Stein was a contestant in the reality TV show The Glass House, in which he described himself as having "no shame", asked viewers, "Should I turn into the most epic villain in the history of reality TV?", and was the first to be voted off.[1][7] He appeared on Season 4 of Worst Cooks in America on Bobby Flay's team in 2013.[9]
Stein became known for disrupting local government meetings, sometimes virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Stein said he began the disruptions after being frustrated by Dallas government unresponsiveness.[3] His disruption of various other local government meetings including New York City and Las Vegas has included rapping about vaccines and other topics.[1][3][10] He rapped about the Russo-Ukrainian War at a city council meeting in Plano, Texas.[11] D Magazine described Stein's city council pranks as "mostly harmless, if at times in poor taste" and said that publicity from the videos had gained Stein access to "larger right-wing platforms where he can spread misinformation, transphobia, and conspiracy theories".[1]
In June 2022, Stein began confronting politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Beto O'Rourke, Rep. Adam Kinzinger,[2][12][13][1] and Rep. Eric Swalwell.[third-party source needed] He was described as sexually harassing Ocasio-Cortez on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in July 2022 by calling her a "big booty Latina" and accusing her of wanting to "kill babies".[2] He told Kinzinger that he was a "d-bag".[2] He called Crenshaw a "globalist RINO"; Crenshaw compared Stein to an angry little boy in a tweet after the confrontation.[12]
In October 2022, an event featuring Stein and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes that had been scheduled by the group Uncensored America at Penn State University was cancelled by the university at the last minute after protests and confrontations; Stein taunted protesters and was spit on by one.[14][15][16] In December 2022, Stein and a half-dressed man he called his "wife's boyfriend" broke into the lobby of Barstool Sports and were forcefully removed by security.[17]
Stein was a candidate for the Board of Trustees of the Highland Park Independent School District in Texas, in an election scheduled for May 6, 2023.[18] He received 1% of the vote, according to unofficial results.[19] In June 2023, Stein confronted Brittney Griner and her Phoenix Mercury teammates, recording himself yelling at her as she walked through the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.[20] In July 2023, Stein was scheduled to make his professional boxing debut against Iraqi TikToker MoDeen on the undercard of MF & DAZN: X Series 008 in Nashville, Tennessee, but the bout was called off after a press conference where Stein threw hot dogs at MoDeen, who is Muslim, and yelled "you love pork, right?". Stein later told The Sun that the hot dogs were turkey, not pork.[21][better source needed]
On February 8, 2023, Stein debuted Prime Time with Alex Stein on the American conservative media network Blaze Media.[6][5]
Stein was emcee at the New York Young Republicans Club 2023 event headlined by Donald Trump.[22]
In both 2023 and 2024, Stein participated in the first two seasons of the reality tv web series, Fishtank, co-created by comedy group Million Dollar Extreme’s lead man Sam Hyde. In both seasons, Stein was listed as a “freeloader”, compared to the actual contestants nicknamed the “fish”, who’s role in the house was to stay for a period of time and cause various shenanigans during the show’s livestream.
Stein's politics have been described as right-wing, although Stein himself has identified as a populist[23] and a centrist.[3] He has criticized vaccine mandates, mask ordinances, and lockdowns.[3][24] Stein has said he favors socializing the healthcare system.[3]
Stein has said that he believes in God but not organized religion.[3] He often refers to himself as "PrimeTime#99".[25]
Stein's mother, Kelly Stein, died of COVID-19 in October 2021. Stein's father said Stein's experience of watching his mother get extubated "traumatized him" and "totally broke him down". Stein said the hospital's use of the antiviral drug remdesivir had caused his mother's death.[1]