A lot of vintage restorers don't like him and people like him because he goes Wow! Look at This! and then suddenly a bunch of middle aged men with beards have that exact thing on their shelf. And those of us doing preservation and restoration suddenly are priced out of the hobby we've been in for decades.
Also, his technical "work" is not great. In fact, it's really bad. Even his successful fixes show a lack of attention to detail.
It's worth noting that he started his career as a computer scrapper.
The attention thing he can't be blamed for, and it's in any case a mixed blessing (more popularity of a specific retro computer can also have upsides for the existing enthusiasts).
He's definitively not the best hardware restorer. But his historical videos, his games and his X16 project are pretty nice.
Gun nut is fine. One can be a gun nut without supporting the awful ideas/people within that domain. It's the support of awful ideas/people in that domain them that make him "controversial" (a.k.a. anti-social asshole, that insist being an anti-social asshole is simply a personality trait, immune to criticism)
Yeah, the teams are "The Assholes", and "Everyone Else". The problem with assholes is they don't "cancel" the other team, they forcefully insist on being part of the other teams lives.
Also, his technical "work" is not great. In fact, it's really bad. Even his successful fixes show a lack of attention to detail.
It's worth noting that he started his career as a computer scrapper.