I had family in Ukraine at the time. My uncle, aunt, and little cousin were in Kiev when Russia was invading. So I did what any other — what was I, 22, 23 years old at the time. I just picked up my phone and started TikTok-ing. It was the hardest moment of my life, the day he was arrested.
I had to do that to show the public that I was not my father. If it wasn't for everything that my father went through, what my family went through, I would hope that no one knew where I stood on any political issue. Within a week of me starting on TikTok, I had a million followers.
One week you have a million followers on TikTok.
Going from nothing to that, it was a bit of a culture shock for me. The ethics I hold myself to are that of a lawyer, which are, in my opinion, kind of greater than that of a journalist.
You don't think you've ever lied?
Today on OnPar, I'm sitting down with one of the most fascinating young voices redefining modern journalism, Aaron Parnas. Now, Aaron started college — oh my god, I didn't want to at 14, ladies and gentlemen. 14. I was in the eighth grade. He's starting college, earns his law degree at 21, now commands millions of followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Substack. He reshapes political media for the Gen Z generation. Here we are.
Super excited to be here.
That was one of the best intros given in a long time.
And now when I start probably challenging you on stuff, so be it. But let's get to this. I'm in eighth grade at 14.
How'd you get that so big?
Yeah. I mean, it was a wild ride. There is a dual enrollment program at — it's called Florida Atlantic University.
You grew up in Boca Raton.
I grew up in Boca Raton, and there it's a program where you start — it's about a hundred of us every year. You start in 9th grade taking AP and college classes, and then 10th, 11th, and 12th you're on the college campus with college students taking only college classes. And so you would take a college English class, and that would count for your high school English credit as well.
And so simultaneously, you're earning a high school degree.
So you get credits and you get your college credits at the same time.
Correct. Everyone graduates with an associate's degree by the end of the four years. I just took a little more classes, graduated with a bachelor's degree.
21 I graduated law school. Started law school when I was 18, went straight to GW in DC. Yeah.
I mean, really, really? [laughter] Oh, wow. And then so you become a securities attorney.
You know, everybody has to know about this. Aaron's father is Lev Parnas. It's a Ukrainian family. So when the war in Ukraine starts, you begin to find out a lot of stuff that's going on.
I did. I had family in Ukraine at the time. My uncle, aunt, and little cousin were in Kiev when Russia was invading or preparing to invade and then invaded. And I would hear from them on the ground what was happening outside of their windows. My little cousin was literally sleeping under a mattress in a bathtub for several nights when the war first started because of the amount of bombings that were happening. And so I would hear from them on the ground, and then I'd watch TV here in the United States, and I'd feel like there's a bit of a disconnect. What was happening here in the States just wasn't accurately portraying what my family was going through on the ground. So I did what any other — what was I, 22, 23 years old at the time. I just picked up my phone and started TikTok-ing and just sharing their experiences on the ground to hopefully validate what they were going through and also trying to educate folks on a part of the world that many people don't even know existed.
Because in the beginning, you know, it was very difficult for mainstream media, you know, to tap in to what was going on because, you know, they don't know about Ukraine. They don't know what's going on. I mean, obviously they're beginning to send crews there and then in correspondence and they understand it, but in the beginning, I mean, there's not much that they can do.
No, not at all. I mean, I remember one of the stories that I actually broke before media here in the United States was when Zelensky issued an order that any able-bodied man under the age of 70 would have to go to the war, to the front lines. And my uncle, he was 67 or 68 at the time. And so I remember getting that call and saying like, 'Hey, he may have to go to the front lines. He may have to do something.' No one in the United States was reporting on it yet. I made a TikTok. People were like, 'You're crazy. You're not — you're making this up.' And then an hour later, CNN breaking news.
Right. Your father was a colleague of Rudy Giuliani. He ends up going to jail. And all of a sudden, you're not Aaron Parnas. You're Lev Parnas's son. What was that like?
It was the hardest moment of my life. I mean, thus far, and I've had some very difficult moments throughout life, but that was easily the hardest — the day he was arrested — because I think on that day I could no longer have my own story. I was always defined by his story. At the time I was a third-year law student. I was preparing to go to a very big firm in Miami, Florida. Figured I would be practicing securities, white-collar work for a while until I made partner. Did all of that. The year after, within a year, I had my offer pulled from that big firm.
I had the legal community immediately shunning me because of who my father was and why, and because he was so public about what he was doing. And through all of that, I had to figure out how to graduate law school. I was in a serious relationship for the first time ever. I mean, there was a lot to figure out. And I was only 20 years old. I have six siblings, five of whom are younger than me, the youngest being 3 years old. And so I had to figure out how to keep my family intact through the entire situation as my dad was behind bars. And so it was not — I had to grow up a lot faster than most people.
So he served 20 months or something like that. And you grew up as a follower of your father. You were a Republican. You were pro-Trump, I guess, in '16.
I grew — when you grow up in a household when all you watch is Fox News, that's all you know. But I will say this: I grew up in 2016. I was pro-Trump to the extent that my father and my family were pro-Trump. But inside, I didn't actually know who I was in terms of politics. And it wasn't until I turned 18, 19, 20 years old, and I really went through my own political awakening, that I realized where I kind of stood on various issues.
Right. We also might say that your father's anti-Trump now. I mean.
I think you can say that.
Yeah, I would say so. The TikTok thing with Ukraine. I mean, now you're tasting media for the first time.
It was interesting. Because immediately when you rise to fame that fast — and I don't want to say fame in the sense of like being a celebrity — but within a week of me starting on TikTok, I had a million followers and a million people who were interested.
Wait a second. Within what?
One week you have a million followers on TikTok. A million followers. First of all, there's probably nobody talking about Ukraine on TikTok at the time, right? You have no competition.
Correct. So I was the only one. And immediately within a week, I had a million people who were interested in learning about Ukraine. And I would post 15, 20 times a day about Ukraine. And I think kind of going from nothing to that, it was a bit of a culture shock for me because instantly you have quote-unquote legacy mainstream media interested in what I'm doing, having me on their show, but also pushing back on what I'm doing, kind of feeling threatened by what I was doing.
But because — wait a minute, you're not grounded in journalism the way we are. I mean.
You could say that, but I was a lawyer. And so the ethics I hold myself to are that of a lawyer, which are, in my opinion, kind of greater than that of a journalist.
If I lied in a court filing in front of a judge, I'd be disbarred. I'd lose my law license. If a journalist lies in print, they wouldn't lose their ability to write. They would still be able to write. They would still call themselves a journalist. And so when you're a lawyer, you have to hold yourself to a much higher ethical standard.
I see. You don't think you've ever lied?
But have I lied in a court filing? No.
Right. Have you lied on your account? On your Substack account?
Nope. I've been completely truthful.
Okay. So basically, I mean, when I tell everyone this is a one-man band, this is a one-man band. Even before this podcast, he's in the hallway dropping something on The Parnas Perspective. So I'm an old-school journalist. All right. Why should I trust Substack and TikTok and YouTube and Instagram when it comes to news?
You shouldn't. And I say that not because I think that there aren't good journalists on TikTok and Substack and YouTube. I think I hold myself to a very high ethical standard, but the vast majority of news you're going to get on these platforms is wrong or misinformed. And so I would say you don't trust the news, you trust the person. Look at the person that's giving you the news and fact-check. I encourage everyone to fact-check anything I ever publish.
So how would you define the tenets of journalism?
Honesty and integrity. I mean, those are the two tenets in my opinion. You have to be completely truthful in what you're putting out, and you have to stick to, in my opinion, the facts. I don't think you should insert an opinion when you're reporting.
I think anyone who says they don't do opinion completely is lying to you. Even Walter Cronkite had a moment.
But if I told you that most people might think that you're a liberal-leaning journalist.
So it's not by choice. I had to redefine myself publicly after my father's arrest. And so I had to tell people who I voted for in 2024. It's no secret that I voted for Vice President Harris because I posted that. And I had to do that to show the public that I was not my father. I wish I never had to do that. I wish I never had to redefine myself.
So if it wasn't for your father, you wouldn't have done it.
I wouldn't have posted it.
Yeah. If it wasn't for everything that my father went through and my family went through, I would hope that no one knew where I stood on any political issue today.
But it's very interesting. Every journalist, okay, that I know votes.
But we don't talk about it. And when we report, we step back and we're more the observer than the participant. Do you do that?
I try to. When I interview people, I pretend like I'm doing a direct examination or cross-examination in a courtroom. It's not about me. It's about them. I try to take a step back. I try to allow them to answer questions, challenge them when I have to.
On Substack, you have almost 650,000 subscribers.
Not all of them. No. It's completely free. There's not a single paywall. Some of them pay money. Not 650,000 of them.
Oh, I was going to say, really? Gosh, I was going to call you a multi-millionaire one day.
No. Is it enough to survive?
It's enough to survive. I'm very grateful for the platform that I built and the people that — because people choose to support me even though everything I put out is free.
But you made one big mistake.
You shouldn't have taken money from a liberal nonprofit.
I didn't take money from a liberal nonprofit to make content.
What did you take it for?
To mentor other creators.
Doesn't that put you on one side?
I don't think so. Because the work that I was doing wasn't partisan.
So you took the money to mentor other people, but it was a source of income.
Sure. Here's the thing. For me to sell out my platform, it's going to be a lot more than $8,000. It's just not worth my time to sell out my —
I thought it was like 20-something.
No, I think it was like 8,000 over a couple months, so maybe 16,000 or whatever total. It was a little while ago. The program, the way it was built to me and the way I participated in it, was a mentorship program where I mentored smaller creators on how to make a YouTube thumbnail, how to make content on TikTok, how to build a following on Substack and generate income on Substack. That's what I did. None of it had anything to do with partisan politics or them approving content that I make or put out. Had nothing to do with any of that.
You are so active all the time. I can't — you believe — how about this? Burnout is a necessary evil.
If you want to be at the top of any field, you have to work your ass off. And as part of working non-stop and being online non-stop, you burn out. I've been burnt out since I started law school. Every law student's burnt out in their own way, but you push through.
How many hours of sleep do you get?
I get eight to nine hours of sleep a night.
Well, then there's no burnout if you're getting 8 hours.
There is, because I'm not working only 8 hours. I'm working 16 hours a day, right? I'm online all the time. If something happens when I'm sleeping and I somehow wake up at 2 a.m. with my small bladder and see it, I'll record. I'll do something. So you're constantly online. You're constantly thinking about it. I haven't had a true day off in over a year. That is burnout. It's just burnout is kind of different for each person.
Now, what some journalists apparently — the legacy media, if you want to call them that — say that all you're really doing is cutting and pasting.
I've seen some of your stuff on The Parnas Perspective, and you do use items that come from other sources. I mean, I've seen a clip from MSNBC or a clip from CNN or a clip from Fox and stuff like that. I mean, that is cutting and pasting something, right?
Of course. I mean, but so does CNN and Fox and MSNBC. Don't they do the same thing on their nightly forecast — like nightly newscast? But for me, I do my own reporting as well. I recently broke the story that the Trump administration was conducting live-fire artillery drills over I-5 in Southern California, forcing it to close down. I broke that story.
I broke that story and everyone didn't believe it.
Nobody knew that they were.
Nobody knew it was happening. I got a source. I got a tip. I broke the story. For about 30 minutes, everyone was like, 'You're crazy, Aaron.' Legacy were like, 'You're crazy.' And then the next day, they did the live-fire drills and a piece of the artillery hit JD Vance's vehicle, one of the vehicles in his convoy. I broke the story. Will I ever get too much credit for it? No. But I broke it.
Does that bother you that you won't get credit?
No, because the people that read it know who wrote it.
Look, I'll give you credit. You are the largest news-oriented Substack news site.
Do you know who they are?
Are they all part of your Gen Z generation?
