About

"So Much For The Tolerant Left" is a quote used by leftist Twitter to mock conservatives who sincerely use the phrase to describe examples of when they feel the left is intolerant of their beliefs.

Origin

While the origin of the phrase is unknown, it has long been a part of conservative dialogue in an effort to expose liberal hypocrisy. For example, on October 30th, 2016, conservative blog Patheos published an article by Bristol Palin titled "Top 10 times the 'tolerant' Left wasn’t so tolerant,"^[1] where it cited examples such as "When the Left rejoiced in the death of a constitutional lawyer and renowned conservative activist" (referring to the leftist celebration of the death of Phyllis Schlafly, who fought against things such as feminism and abortion) and "When black students refused to share residence with white people."

Spread

Events such as the Inauguration of Donald Trump, Richard Spencer Punched in the Face, the Milo Berkley Protest, and the rise of modern Antifa groups started a national dialogue about free speech and what the left should and should not tolerate. For conservatives, the violent reaction to Trump's presidency was an example of liberal intolerance of conservative views.

Around the same time, liberals began lampooning this view in jokes where the set up would be the poster facing an absurd scenario of oppression, followed by the punchline, "so much for the tolerant left" (example shown below).

On February 17th, Buzzfeed^[2] compiled a series of tweets cataloguing the surge in "so much for the tolerant left" jokes.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References