This is a classic of the Lex tweet genre, so let me break it down. He starts by emphasising his pure motivations and offering a reminder of how his family directly suffered from the Nazi's occupation of Ukraine in WW2. If the tweet ended here, this wouldn't be a Lex classic. 
Lex instead chose to use this to frontload his lengthy response to criticism. This means that when people are critical of his other points, Lex and his defenders will shake their heads about how insensitive people are when he was just relating his very personal family trauma.
The thread continues with Lex suggesting that many of his friends in Ukraine are saying the attacks against him are coming from Ukrainian bot farms. And he wants to make it clear that he disagrees because even if it is true and people are joining "the witch-burning hysteria",...
Lex thinks it's better intellectually to not reactively dismiss criticisms. So to recap:
1. Lex has posted that many in Ukraine think the attacks against him are from Ukranian bot farms (do those even exist?).
2. He's compared criticisms against him to witch-burning hysteria...
1. Lex has posted that many in Ukraine think the attacks against him are from Ukranian bot farms (do those even exist?).
2. He's compared criticisms against him to witch-burning hysteria...
... and linked it to polarisation in US politics.
3. He then suggested he is too fair to his critics and welcoming of criticism to endorse the accusations that he just posted.
In short, he has posited conspiracies, attacked his critics, and asked for credit for not doing that.
3. He then suggested he is too fair to his critics and welcoming of criticism to endorse the accusations that he just posted.
In short, he has posited conspiracies, attacked his critics, and asked for credit for not doing that.
Another wrinkle here is that while posting about such fair-minded idealism in dealing with critics, Lex is following his long-standing habit on social media of immediately blocking anyone, including long-term fans, who raise even mild criticism of his positions.
Next, Lex reminds everyone of both his pure intentions and how dishonest his critics are. He also frames his past trip to Ukraine as about two things: his personal development and getting an interview with Zelenskyy. The unstated point: it wasn't about doing any other interviews.
Why is Lex framing things like this? Because he conducted interviews with some people in Ukraine that he did not release despite repeatedly saying that he would. People, especially Ukrainians, have criticised him for this. So this is Lex indirectly addressing these points.
Next is the actual defence. Again front-loading that his motivations are pure and he spoke to loads of people off-mic. This isn't what the criticism he received was about. It is about the recorded & unreleased interviews. His actual response to the criticism cam be summarised as:
1. He never intended to publish them as standalone episodes but as part of a mega-documentary after his Zelenskyy interview (which was never agreed on).
2. The off-mic conversations with ordinary soldiers and civilians were better and more powerful than his on-mic conversations.
2. The off-mic conversations with ordinary soldiers and civilians were better and more powerful than his on-mic conversations.
3. The on-mic conversations were too short, too shallow, and relied on generic questions. Lex only feels comfortable releasing 3-5 hr deep dive podcasts. Since he failed to dig deeper, he failed, and could not release them.
So there are some issues here.
1. Lex previously declared his intentions to release at least some of the interviews, including on his social media accounts. He has since deleted the relevant YouTube & Reddit comments but other people responded to them and some quote what he said.
1. Lex previously declared his intentions to release at least some of the interviews, including on his social media accounts. He has since deleted the relevant YouTube & Reddit comments but other people responded to them and some quote what he said.
2. Lex made the same claim when he went to Israel. He still released interviews but added a 10-minute compilation of clips from people in the West Bank.
3a. He has interviewed various people for around 1 hr. Here are some from the past year, Bernie Sanders, Dana White...
3a. He has interviewed various people for around 1 hr. Here are some from the past year, Bernie Sanders, Dana White...
...Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Lisa Randall, Mark Zuckerberg.
3b. Lex's questions are typically generic and superficial, see his interview with Trump or Netanyahu. His primary skill is being indulgent & sycophantic + asking wide-eyed questions that mention love.
3b. Lex's questions are typically generic and superficial, see his interview with Trump or Netanyahu. His primary skill is being indulgent & sycophantic + asking wide-eyed questions that mention love.
So to summarise again: Lex's back catalogue contains a lot of superficial conversations and various shorter episodes, typically with politicians or rich people. So his scrupulousness when it comes to the Ukraine content seems out of character.
Next up Lex talks about how almost everyone he spoke to likes him & supports him & many are now his good friends. By implication, if you are annoyed at him not releasing the interview he promised that's you being unreasonable and in a tiny minority. Also, note Lex invoking...
...his favourite wounded bird pose: he's deeply sorry for how badly he failed in the interviews + he promises to work really hard to get better. Do you still want to criticise him? If so remember, he is trying with all his heart to speak to everyone with compassion & empathy!
Finally, we end with some classic Lex. He will continue to be attacked relentlessly by bad-faith actors (who some are saying are bots, not Lex though). As for him, he loves you all and he's just out here appreciating sunrises. Do you really want to post something critical now?
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