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

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News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

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Summary

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 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:14.8	After that quite amazing and moving memorial for Charlie Kirk, there's been a lot written about him. His legacy, his achievements,
0:23.2	we all were quite enthralled by his efforts as probably the most successful political organizer
0:29.5	of any party on their age of 40. He understood that young people are by nature rebellious.
0:36.0	You're full of energy. They're full of hormones, they're full of ideas.
0:39.6	They haven't lived a long time, and they question authority.
0:42.4	That's innate to all of us at that age.
0:44.5	But what he was trying to tell them was use that natural inquisitiveness, skepticism,
0:50.8	maybe even rebelliousness at the establishment.
0:53.9	The baby boomers of the 1960s and 70s are now
0:57.7	the establishment. The establishment is not conservative.
1:16.4	Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal.
1:25.2	After that quite amazing and moving memorial for Charlie Kirk, there's been a lot written about him.
1:48.1	His legacy, his achievements, we all were quite enthralled by his efforts as probably the most successful political organizer of any party on their age of 40 with Turning Point USA. It's now up to, I think, requests for 75,000 new chapters. He was a columnist. He was a successful podcaster. He did it. He did it all. But one thing I think that hasn't been remarked
1:53.4	about, what was the essence of his appeal to young voters? Why was he able to reverse the turnout in 2020 of young voters
2:05.0	getting more of them out and getting somewhere from 6 to 20 percent more of the youth vote
	...

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