Where Did the Campus Protests Go in Trump 2.0?
Bulwark Takes
The Bulwark
4.7 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rachel Janfaza and Lauren Egan explore a striking political shift: campus protests that once followed every move of Democrats have all but vanished under Trump—even amid a growing conflict with Iran. From massive campus shutdowns to near silence, what happened to Gen Z activism? They discuss protest fatigue, fear of consequences, changing campus rules, and a deeper cultural shift among young voters who may be giving up on protests altogether.
Read more from Lauren’s reporting: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-campus-protest-culture-that-targeted-biden-goes-silent-for-trump-iran-anti-war
Transcript
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| 1:38.8 | dot earth slash planet and code dig it five. Hey guys, it's Rachel Jan Faza here at The Bullwork, talking today with |
| 1:46.2 | Lauren Egan, who writes the opposition newsletter, giving us a deep dive into everything that's going |
| 1:51.1 | on with Democrats right now. I'm excited to chat about her latest piece about how campus protests |
| 1:57.3 | have largely gone silent in Trump 2.0. I'm curious if you can give us a little bit of |
| 2:02.6 | the background into the gist of the piece and the inspiration for reporting it. Well, I cover the |
| 2:09.1 | Biden White House all four years and obviously the last year and a half, I guess, of that administration |
| 2:14.4 | was just completely dominated by campus protests and protesters |
| 2:20.4 | that would just interrupt him and Vice President Harris no matter where they went. |
| 2:24.1 | I mean, I have all these memories from traveling with the president or being on the campaign |
| 2:28.0 | trail where anytime Harris would get up and give a speech, you could bet that she would get interrupted |
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