JV Last at the Bulwark points us to what he calls the “focus group from hell” and boy is that an apt description. The Manhattan Institute asked a bunch of Gen Z Republicans and the results are , well… bracing.
I present to you a focus group so vile that if it hadn’t been published approvingly by a Trump-loving publication, you’d have thought it was parody. Here, for instance, is what happened when the moderator asked the group what they think about Hitler:
Ashley: I think he was a great leader, to be honest. I think what he was going for was terrible, but I think he showed very strong leadership values.
Andrew: I’m in favor of a strong executive. I think we should have a stronger executive branch. I don’t think we should be killing people or doing mass genocide, obviously, but I do think we should have a strong executive. I feel like one of the biggest problems Trump is running into right now is all these little courts, they want to throw up little blockages against everything he’s trying to do, whether it be his tariffs or deporting people. So I’m very pro-strong executive, strong leader, strong man. I support national sovereignty, and Hitler was a nationalist. He was like, we have to take Germany back for Germans. And I feel like we should do that in America. We should take America back for our native population. So, I’m not an expert on Hitler by any means, but as far as nationalism is concerned, I’m all that.
Brice: I myself am actually Jewish, ancestrally. I’m Christian by faith, but Jewish by blood. I’ve actually read Mein Kampf. The end conclusions that he came to: absolutely abominable. But I strangely understood where he was coming from as far as wanting to improve the national state of Germany.
And you know what else? He was a hell of a painter.
They seem nice.
After the Hitler question, the City Journal moderator asked the young Republicans what they think about Jews:
Atticus: They’ve got Hollywood on lock.
George: Don’t they own, like, a ton of the media, and, like, just kind of everything?
Brice: No different than black people, Asian people, or any other people here today. I don’t really know why there’s a single issue about Jewish people.
Andrew: I would say a force for evil. I don’t see why we support Israel. I think Israel’s a very evil state. The genocide in Gaza, killing all these poor people. And the only reason we really support them is because they are the biggest donors. We have AIPAC, and these are all Jewish-run organizations.
At this point the moderator gets a little shook:
Moderator: Let me clarify that. Andrew, you think the Jewish people are a force for evil?
Andrew: Yes, sir. It doesn’t bother me if it’s true. Those slurs, if you’re racist or whatever, that just rolls off my back… This is my country, my people have been here since the American Revolution, so I say what I want to.
Role model:
Here’s a good one:
Lauren: I hear [pro-Israel content] all the time from certain pastors, and it makes me question them. I used to go to Global Vision Bible Church with Greg Locke, and he’s demonic, and I know a lot of stuff and how much harm he’s done to a lot of people . . . he goes to Israel all the freaking time and takes his stupid money. Israel has a lot of connections to sex and human trafficking, and that doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t feel like this is anti-Semitic because I’m a little bit Jewish myself, so I have all the room to talk, and I’ve been seeing evidence. When you see evidence of a pastor abusing people, or a pastor won’t show you his financial statements, that’s a big freaking problem.
Okay…
Poor little incel:
Andrew: I know a lot of guys who were pretty successful, who are in pretty good shape and successful, and they have a hard time finding a good Christian woman. I’m successful. I do pretty well. I make almost $100,000. I’m only 20 years old, so this isn’t a top-of-mind concern for me, but I don’t see a lot of good Christian women. I see a lot of tattoos, I don’t like that. And I see a lot of promiscuity with women, and I don’t like that, either. I see a lot of feminism, too. A lot of bossy women. I look at my mother, and I see a very traditional, conservative woman, and I don’t see that in other women around.
Who do they look up to?
Ashley: Charlie Kirk. I like the core values he held and put forward, putting God first, above everything. And that Kennedy guy—with the raspy voice.
Lauren: Shawn Ryan. And Charlie Kirk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Rogan.
George: Tucker Carlson. Especially after his departure from Fox, just seeing kind of how he’s a little more middle ground. Not so brainwashed by the bosses who tell him what to say.
None of them mentioned the anointed one, JD Vance. Or Dear Leader Donald Trump.
I watched a bunch of footage from the TPUSA gathering over the weekend and they interviewed many of the younger folks to attend those events. They all sound pretty much like these kids.
These ideas have been percolating for quite a while on the far right. When Trump was first elected and we were all freaking out about what we called the Alt-Right and are now known as Groypers, you’d hear this stuff. These sad little weirdos just like to be transgressive because they think it’s cool and it’s hard to know how much they actually believe. But the racism and bigotry is likely to stick, especially since it’s going more and more mainstream in the GOP.
Here’s a little taste of where it’s going:
Sein Kampf:
I wish I could say this is just some unusual X rando. But the site is full of this garbage, whether bots or real people, and it’s poisoning people’s minds.
Word to the wise, stay off of social media. It will lead you to some kind of substance abuse problem.
Happy Hollandaise!