With his recent book’s success and with over 40 million views on YouTube, Jordan Peterson’s star is on the rise. His conservative and alt-right fan base is heralding his interview with Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman as a victory against “PC Culture.” Newman’s attempt to refute Peterson through cordial debate failed after she conceded to elements of his worldview, including the need for corporate hierarchy and an ethos of competition. In response to Newman’s statistics about the wage gap, Peterson argued that this inequality was a necessary part of the capitalist dynamic. He even complimented Newman on securing a high-paying job thanks to what some people would consider “masculine” characteristics. Despite Newman’s relatively polite behavior, she soon faced a misogynistic backlash.

Peterson is often portrayed as an enigma. Those on both the Right and Left defend him against charges of fascism and membership in the alt-right. Mainstream pundits admire his so-called consistency and coherence — some even praise him as a great philosopher. This is certainly true of David Brooks’s recent New York Times op-ed, which extols Peterson as a public intellectual for the YouTube age.

Peterson’s fans argue that he is not a fascist, just a classical liberal; not a racist, just someone who acknowledges “ethnic differences”; not a misogynist, just honest about the real differences between men and women. Many of his fans see his arguments not only as commonsensical but also scientifically accurate, a belief supported by Peterson’s credentials as a professor of psychology and a clinical psychologist.