Donald Trump Has No Answers for the Younger Generation

Perhaps you have noticed that in recent weeks, significant portions of the institutional right have gotten onto the “doom beat,” pounding the drums urgently about the looming threat posed to the Republican Party’s future by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and the “Groypers” — more accurately described as the disproportionate number of policy-oriented young men in current Washington politics who dabble at least a foot (and sometimes wade hip-deep) into the toxic waters of antisemitic nihilism. They are right to be concerned.

You can choose to believe Rod Dreher’s estimate that around 30–40 percent of “Zoomers who work in official Republican Washington” hold these views — characterizable, beyond antisemitism, as a general belief that “the system” as it exists is corrupt and must be leveled, along with whoever is perceived as having been its beneficiaries. Or you can credibly argue that it’s an exaggeration born of a skewed sample. (A connected D.C. friend of mine more charitably puts it at around 10–20 percent of current Hill staffers. He jokes: “Certainly no reason for concern in that case!”)

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.

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Perhaps you have noticed that in recent weeks, significant portions of the institutional right have gotten onto the “doom beat,” pounding the drums urgently about the looming threat posed to the Republican Party’s future by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and the “Groypers” — more accurately described as the disproportionate number of policy-oriented young men in current Washington politics who dabble at least a foot (and sometimes wade hip-deep) into the toxic waters of antisemitic nihilism. They are right to be concerned.

You can choose to believe Rod Dreher’s estimate that around 30–40 percent of “Zoomers who work in official Republican Washington” hold these views — characterizable, beyond antisemitism, as a general belief that “the system” as it exists is corrupt and must be leveled, along with whoever is perceived as having been its beneficiaries. Or you can credibly argue that it’s an exaggeration born of a skewed sample. (A connected D.C. friend of mine more charitably puts it at around 10–20 percent of current Hill staffers. He jokes: “Certainly no reason for concern in that case!”)

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.