Prominent left-wing pundit admits he's optimistic following Trump's win: MAGA 'not my mortal enemy'

Leftist "The Young Turks" co-host and longtime anti-Trumper Cenk Uygur admitted that President-elect Donald Trump's victory earlier this month brings him "optimism."

"I've been trying to figure out why I'm more optimistic now than I was before the election, even though I was so against the guy who won. I know now. MAGA is not my mortal enemy (and neither is the extreme left). My mortal enemy is the establishment. And they have been defeated!" he wrote.

The point represents a notable turnaround for the progressive host who, just weeks before the election, was calling Trump an "unstable madman" during an episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored."

During the British journalist's popular web show, Uygur trotted out various anti-Trump talking points. "He thinks we should terminate our Constitution. He had no problem trampling our democracy. I'm not letting that clown come in here and destroy this country," he told Morgan and his guest panel.

In a follow-up X post he added, "It's not just that the establishment candidate lost, it's that their media is mortally wounded. The source of their strength was not insipid politicians like Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. The source of their strength was their propaganda machine - the mainstream media."

He continued, noting that independent media is now freer following Trump's win.

"Now, online media is strong enough that their oppressive monopoly on the American mind has been broken. Now, we're in the jungle. They hate that! I love it! This uncontrolled marketplace of ideas is where I'm home. I'd rather be in the populist woods than an establishment prison."

Trump leaning into podcasts this election cycle, as opposed to traditional media interviews, paid off among Gen Z men and millennials. The Fox News Voter Survey published earlier this month found that men aged 18-44 supported Trump at 53% compared to Vice President Kamala Harris' 45%.

"Look, I debated Professor Lichtman before. I told him his theories about the keys are absurd. I was right. He was wrong. I said he'd lose his keys," Uygur told the panel about Lichtman, who was present as well.

Lichtman fired back, "No, you were not right, and I was not wrong!" He added, "And that's a cheap shot. And I will not stand for it."

 Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.