The influencer behind Nithya Raman’s controversial “fascist liars” video has built a substantial online following by taking on explosive social-justice disputes and promoting viral campaigns that have drawn millions of views.
Ed Choi, who posts under the name @etchaskej and has nearly 800,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram combined, interviewed Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman in the video that ignited controversy Monday night.
The dispute is not Choi’s first brush with a highly charged online backlash.
Last year, he repeatedly criticized the Los Angeles restaurant group Great White after unsubstantiated claims emerged that Asian customers were being seated separately from other diners.
The controversy began when a diner alleged that Asian customers were being seated together at Great White’s Melrose location. The restaurant’s name soon became a focal point of the social-media backlash.
Great White’s owners firmly denied discriminating against customers based on race or ethnicity. They said the restaurant was named after the great white shark, which is also featured in its branding.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Choi eventually posted more than a dozen videos about Great White and its then-former sister restaurant, Gran Blanco, helping spread the allegations across social media.
One of his early videos surpassed 1 million views on Instagram.
As the backlash intensified and the owners, employees and their families began receiving threatening and harassing messages, Choi publicly denounced the harassment.
His latest controversy followed an interview with Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass. During the conversation, Choi said Los Angeles had become “extremely fascist,” pointing in particular to Bass’s appointment of Jim McDonnell as chief of police.
He then asked Raman how she would “de-fascistize” the city.
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Later in the video, Choi and Raman deliver the line together: “Only you can stop fascist liars.”
The video also displayed images of Bass and McDonnell, placing a large red X over the LAPD chief’s face.
Raman’s campaign said Choi inserted those images after the interview. It also said Raman intended the “fascist liars” comment to refer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration.
The campaign said it had removed itself from the post and requested that Choi delete the video.
Choi, a former stand-up comedian and co-founder of a clothing brand, has said he shifted toward social-justice content after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, in which eight people were killed, including six Asian women.
He later entered another viral restaurant dispute involving San Francisco’s Kis Cafe. Choi posted a reaction video that garnered more than 3.2 million views and urged his followers to stop supporting the business.
Kis Cafe eventually closed following a broader social-media backlash that began after another influencer described an encounter with the restaurant’s chef-owner. The business later reopened under a new name and with different leadership.
More recently, Choi has used his sizable online platform to focus on immigration enforcement, promoting fundraisers for detainees and anti-ICE causes.
He has also said that two federal agents recently came to his home because of his online activity involving ICE personnel.
But there is no public confirmation from federal authorities that Choi is under investigation or has been accused of a crime.
