Republican senator says he sent letter to Eventbrite criticizing its ‘hypocrisy’

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) sent a letter to Eventbrite, the online platform for organizing events, addressing the platform’s recent “hypocrisy” for removing an event by activist Riley Gaines.

Gaines, an advocate of keeping transgender women out of women’s sports, revealed last month that Eventbrite had removed an event she made on the platform, though Eventbrite did not take similar actions on events in support of Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel in October. Schmitt said he sent a letter to the platform, asking it what its criteria were for canceling Gaines’s event and “what else” it is canceling.

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“And I think to your original point, it shows, first of all, it’s ridiculous that Riley Gaines is being subjected to this,” Schmitt said in an appearance on OutKick the Morning. “No. 2, it is the height of hypocrisy that to claim that somehow this is beyond the pale, but yet you’re going to allow these other [events] to continue to go on. So I think the public deserves to know more about what Eventbrite’s doing, and we’re trying to shine a light on that.”

Schmitt, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, acknowledged his letter to Eventbrite is “not a subpoena,” meaning that the platform could take his letter and “blow it off,” but stated that doing so does not typically happen. The Missouri senator stated that when an event-planning business cancels certain events but not others, the public “deserves to know” what the business’s criteria are.

“I think that’s an important role that we play here in Oversight, and so hopefully, we will get some answers, and again, the hypocrisy has already been revealed, but there’s probably a lot more there,” Schmitt said. “And I think people are sick and tired of these ‘woke’ corporations deciding these things. People want to know the information, then they can make up their own mind, but it’s probably another example of a ‘woke’ corporation kind of virtue-signaling along the way.”

Schmitt’s comments come after Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) stated Monday that he had directed his office and political committee not to use Eventbrite, saying it was “beyond belief” the platform would remove Gaines’s event but not take similar action with pro-Hamas events. He has also called for others to avoid using the platform.

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Gaines stated on Oct. 26 that people should give Eventbrite “the Bud Light treatment” for canceling her event — a reference to Bud Light’s financial woes after it partnered with transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney.

The Washington Examiner has contacted Eventbrite for comment.