Keen On America A Tale of Two Kellys: Peter Wehner on the Intellectual and Moral Decline of the American Right
Dec 2, 2025
Peter Wehner, a senior fellow and conservative commentator, explores the striking moral chasm in modern American conservatism. He critiques Megyn Kelly's descent into violent rhetoric, contrasting her with Senator Mark Kelly's principled stance against military aggression. Wehner argues that the GOP's embrace of shock jock culture, represented by figures like Nick Fuentes, signifies a broader intellectual decline. He emphasizes the importance of moral courage in political discourse and warns against the mainstreaming of extremism.
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Smart Rationalizations Enable Moral Decline
- High intelligence can worsen political moral failures because smart people craft better rationalizations for unethical acts.
- Peter Wehner argues psychological and moral dynamics, not mere IQ, explain the right's drift into unethical accommodation.
MAGA's Energy, Not Intellectual Rigor, Rules Discourse
- The MAGA right has dominated public conversation with energy and ideas, even if those ideas lack traditional intellectual rigor.
- Wehner says the Democratic side is intellectually listless, enabling MAGA's conversational dominance until recent electoral signs shift.
Carlson's Journey From Mainstream To Platforming Extremists
- Tucker Carlson began as a mainstream conservative and migrated toward the extremist lane over years of platforming darker voices.
- Peter Wehner recounts Carlson hosting Nick Fuentes as a key example of mainstreaming white-supremacist figures.
