Victor Davis Hanson: Charlie Kirk Did the Unimaginable. He Turned the Youth Against the Liberal Establishment.

Oct 3, 2025

Victor Davis Hanson explores Charlie Kirk's remarkable legacy in energizing young conservatives. He highlights how Kirk harnessed youthful rebelliousness to challenge the entrenched establishment, which includes corporate media and elite universities. The discussion reveals Kirk's impact on youth voter turnout in 2020 and his vision for restoring traditional values. Hanson emphasizes the need for a counter-revolution in response to the ideologies dominating today’s culture, encouraging youth to question authority and reclaim their voice.

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INSIGHT

Rebellion Redirected Toward The Establishment

Victor Davis Hanson argues young people are innately rebellious and question authority.
Charlie Kirk redirected that energy toward the establishment rather than traditional conservatism.

ANECDOTE

Turning Point's Rapid Growth And Impact

Hanson recalls Turning Point USA's growth and electoral impact on youth turnout in 2020.
He notes requests for thousands of chapters and suggests Kirk helped swing young votes toward Trump.

INSIGHT

Who Counts As The Establishment

Hanson says Kirk taught youth to rebel against the baby-boomer establishment, not against tradition.
That establishment includes media, elite universities, corporations, and popular culture.

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Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, there have been over 75,000 requests for new Turning Point USA chapters and many conservative commentators have written about his legacy and achievements, but what hasn’t been remarked about enough is, “What was the essence of his appeal to young voters?" asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”

The answer?

Charlie Kirk understood that young people, by their very nature, are rebellious. He wanted to take their natural skepticism and point it toward the establishment, which, today, is composed of the corporate media, higher ed, and baby boomers who never got over the 1960s and '70s.

“So what was the secret to his success? I think what he did was quite brilliant. He understood that young people are, by nature, rebellious. They always, as—you're full of energy. They're full of hormones. They're full of ideas. They haven't lived a long time. And they question authority. That's innate to all of us at that age.
“But what he was trying to tell them was: Use that natural inquisitiveness, skepticism, maybe even rebelliousness, at the establishment. But you're mistaken. The establishment is not conservative.
“The establishment, as defined by the network news, PBS, NPR; as defined by higher education, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford; as defined by the corporate boardroom at Budweiser or Target, or Disney; as defined by the popular culture, if you look—I could just direct you to the halftime show at the typical Super Bowl extravaganza. We could go on, but you get the message.”
(00:00) Remembering Charlie Kirk: A Legacy of Youthful Rebellion

(01:36) The Secret to Kirk's Success with Young Voters

(02:55) Challenging the Establishment: Kirk's Revolutionary Message

(05:57) Conclusion and Call to Action

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