Cenk Uygur, Turkish-American political activist
Cenk Kadir Uygur (; Turkish: [ˈdʒeɲc kaˈdiɾ ˈujɡuɾ]; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish American political commentator, media host, attorney, and journalist. Uygur is the creator of The Young Turks, an American left-wing sociopolitical news and commentary program known for promoting progressive politics and left-wing ideals. Before beginning his career as a political commentator, he worked briefly as an associate attorney in Washington, D.C. and New York City. As a young man, Uygur supported social conservative positions but as his views evolved he began to identify as a progressive. He is also a co-founder of Justice Democrats.
In addition to hosting The Young Turks, Uygur appeared on MSNBC as a political commentator. From January to June 2011, he hosted a weeknight commentary show on the network; he was replaced by Al Sharpton. After leaving MSNBC, Uygur secured another weeknight commentary show on Current TV, which aired from December 5, 2011, to August 15, 2013. From 2012 to 2013, he was the chief news officer at Current TV, succeeding Keith Olbermann.In 2020, Uygur was a candidate in both the special election as well as the regularly scheduled election for California's 25th congressional district to succeed former Representative Katie Hill, who resigned in 2019. His campaign was controversial due to Uygur having made numerous derogatory and vulgar comments about women, Jews and Muslims in the past. He lost both elections, coming in fourth place in both contests with 5.9% of the vote in first race and 6.6% in the other.