Ellie Park, Senior Photographer

Curtis Yarvin, a blogger known for his anti-democracy views, debated Yale Law School professor Jed Rubenfeld at a debate Tuesday evening hosted by the Yale Political Union, or YPU.

Yarvin argued in favor of the resolution “end the democratic experiment” against Law School professor Jed Rubenfeld. The resolution failed, with 60 voting against and 23 voting in favor, Hassaan Qadir ’26, who attended the debate, told the News. The News could not immediately confirm the vote with YPU leadership.

Yarvin has promoted the idea of an American monarchy online under the pen name Mencius Moldbug, and his ideas were cited by JD Vance LAW ’13 on a podcast in 2021 supporting Trump replacing civil servants with Trump loyalists.

In an email to the News prior to the event, YPU President Brennan Columbia-Walsh ’26 asked that a reporter not attend Yarvin’s debate — a break from recent YPU custom. A News reporter was initially let into the event but asked to leave by Columbia-Walsh before the debate began. Columbia-Walsh declined to explain why the News reporter had to leave the event, referring back to his initial email.  

Yarvin told the News that he was unaware of the policy barring a News reporter as he entered a dinner before the debate at Mory’s. 

“I don’t know the rules, someone will have to see,” Yarvin said. “I would ask the organizers. I really don’t know.” 

Qadir said in an interview after the debate that he believed a lack of news coverage enabled participants to speak freely.

“I think it’s useful for the Yale Political Union to be a relatively private space for dialogue,” Qadir said, explaining that speeches could be misrepresented. “But on the other hand, it can be useful to publicize and let other people know, even for the simple sake of getting more people to come to the YPU.”

Another student, Antonio Padilla ’27, said that the move to bar a reporter was unnecessary due to a lack of controversial statements said throughout the debate. Padilla expressed his disagreement with the YPU’s decision, stressing the importance of publicizing Yarvin’s statements. 

“I do think that if he’s gonna espouse these views, talk about the institution that he’s speaking in, and talk about the students within these institutions, then the people should be able to hear,” Padilla said. “That’s kind of the democratic ideal, I guess.”

Student attendees summarized the character of the debate. Yarvin argued that the democratic experiment has already failed, while Rubenfeld contested that ending the experiment is not worth the consequences of tyranny, two students said.

Alden Okoh-Aduako ’28 said that Yarvin advocated for a government structured like a corporation, in which there is an absolute monarch accountable to some outside body — analogous to the way a chief executive officer is accountable to a board of directors. 

Padilla said Yarvin assessed democracies and oligarchies around the world to be “not working,” and thus concluded that “monarchy seems like the obvious solution here.” On democracy specifically, Padilla said that Yarvin attributed homelessness and political polarization as some of the signs of failure. 

“He said, ‘When I walked down Chapel Street, I had to think to myself the project failed, right?’” Padilla recalled Yarvin saying, in reference to homeless people on a street in downtown New Haven.

Two students interviewed by the News questioned Yarvin’s proposed monarchical system and if his ideal government would actually lead to human flourishing.

“But then it’s like, okay, well, what’s keeping that board of directors in check?” Miles Moore ’29 said.

Padilla criticized Yarvin’s theoretical system of government on the basis of who would run it, pointing to the possibility of immoral leaders. 

Students in support of the resolution spoke about the need for decentralized governments to check malicious incentives and inefficiencies from the federal government, Qadir said.

Padilla described how students speaking in the affirmative proposed more interesting arguments as they “pulled from more sources,” including Carl Schmitt, a German political theorist, or philosophies from ancient Athens.

In response to Yarvin, Rubenfeld argued that ending the democratic experiment could result in complete totalitarianism, which is not worth the possible gains of a successful monarchy, Qadir said. 

“Sure, you could end up with a benevolent king who works efficiently for the common good, but who’s to ensure we don’t get a tyrant instead?” said Okoh-Aduako, recalling Rubenfeld’s speech. 

Columbia-Walsh could not be reached for comment about the debate after it ended. 

Yale Public Safety personnel were present outside William L. Harkness Hall during the event, and attendees’ bags were checked by security. The YPU previously tightened its security measures for a debate the week after the killing of Charlie Kirk. 

Yarvin is scheduled to debate Garett Jones, a George Mason University professor, on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Yale Federalist Society.

Correction, Oct. 8: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the News’ communication with Brennan Columbia-Walsh after the debate. Columbia-Walsh did not decline to comment; he could not be reached for comment.

Correction, Oct. 8: An earlier version of this article misspelled an attendee’s name. His name is spelled Alden Okoh-Aduako, not Alden Okoh-Aduko.

Correction, Oct 8: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a German political theorist. His name is Carl Schmitt, not Carl Schmidt.