J. J. McCullough

McCullough was born on July 17, 1984;^{[‡ 2]} he grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He identifies as a middle-class conservative.^{[‡ 3]} McCullough graduated from Simon Fraser University where he had been opinion editor for campus paper The Peak and an editor-in-chief at Douglas College student newspaper The Other Press.^[1]

While attending SFU, McCullough, acting as CEO for the Independent Electoral Commission appointed by the Simon Fraser Student Society, oversaw a successful 2008 referendum whereby 67% of SFU students voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students.^[2] The CFS contested the referendum’s legitimacy, but ultimately settled out of court and Simon Fraser University’s student union officially left in 2012.^[3]

McCullough is a hobbyist collector and has collected items from countries such as Mexico, Russia, South Korea and Sweden, and stated in a 2024 interview, that one of his goals is to "have a trinket or bauble of some significance from every place in the world."^[4]

McCullough began commentating professionally at Sun News Network, until its abrupt closure in 2015.^{[‡ 4]} He also provided on-air political commentary for CTV. After Sun News closed, McCullough purchased a camcorder from Best Buy and began recording videos in his home. In 2017, McCullough created The Canada Guide website.^{[‡ 5][5]}

In February 2017, the Quebec Legislature voted to condemn an opinion piece written by McCullough in The Washington Post, which they say insulted the province.^[6] McCullough later described the motion as "preposterous and absurd."^[7] In 2017, Vice News published a rebuttal to McCullough's opinion article in The Washington Post saying "JJ McCullough genuinely misunderstands the Canadian political system. This leaves him unable to articulate his complaints about it in a meaningful way, and instead he relies on his obvious fetishism of the American presidential system, with its tripartite separation of powers, to fill in the gaps of both his knowledge and political imagination."^[8]

McCullough worked for The Washington Post^[9][10] as an international opinion contributor until February 2023.^{[‡ 6]} He was considered to be a key voice to comment on drug-related deaths by the Washington Post.^[11] McCullough was a columnist for the National Review.^[9][10][12] McCullough was on True North Centre for Public Policy where he discussed Trump's latest statements on trade.^[13]

McCullough is most known for his YouTube channel, which has over 1 million subscribers. He started the channel in 2016.^[4] He produces videos on a range of subjects, including both Canadian and global politics, as well as history and culture.^[14][15] His videos are known for the eccentric backgrounds and his seat on a yoga ball.^[4] McCullough's audience is approximately 80% male with the majority of viewers aged between 20 and 35 and about half of them being located in the U.S.^[16]

In a survey conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism published in October 2025, he was ranked as the 14th "most mentioned individual" in terms of news on social and video networks in Canada.^[17]

McCullough has been described as a conservative.^[18] He has long been an advocate for the abolition of Canada's constitutional monarchy, and was formerly a spokesperson for Citizens for a Canadian Republic.^[19] McCullough is a critic of the Canadian political system and of official bilingualism, calling for the end of an official status for the French language at the federal level. McCullough considers French to be a useless language that should not have any official recognition in Canada, arguing that it gives the Laurentian elite an unfair and disproportionate power, and instead defends the Majoritarianism philosophy.^{[‡ 7][8][20]}

McCullough has a positive view of the United States and has called Americans who said they wanted to move to Canada after an election loss "sore losers" saying "[It's] very disrespectful of a great gift that they've been given in life, which is to be born in the United States."^[21] McCullough has accused media coverage of refugees in Canada to have "misinformation" and claims when "speaking on a highly sensitive and complex issue was far more reckless, repeating myths that have a tangible impact on how refugees are treated in Canadian society."^[22] Despite his positive outlook towards the United States, McCullough has at times shown his despisement of the modern day Republican Party, Donald Trump, members of his administration, and the MAGA movement in his videos, calling them "despicable." He has nonetheless stated that his channel is "not a political channel," and does not frequently discuss his political opinions in his content.^{[‡ 8]}

McCullough has called for conservatives to compromise on transgender related issues, for which he was rebuked by National Review in 2018.^[23] In response to criticism, McCullough told the CBC "I'm a contrary guy [...] I've got controversial beliefs on a whole host of issues. But at the end of the day I'm also just a guy. I'm also just a person."^[20]

In June 2022, McCullough testified before Canada's Heritage Committee in opposition of Bill C-11.^{[24][‡ 9]} After the bill was enacted, McCullough criticised the decision.^{[‡ 10]}

J.J. McCullough doesn't drink alcohol or caffeine. He said that not consuming those items motivated him to become a vegetarian and not consume meat as well.^[25]

McCullough is openly gay.^[18]