Victor Davis Hanson: Why MAGA is here to stay
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What does Victor Davis Hanson say about Trump’s unexpected comeback and early political predictions?
Trump came on the scene, I wrote something for National Review that tried to explain that he would probably win. And I got so much hatred from that. He's not really a Bob Dahl or Mitt Romney or John McCain. He really wants to 360 degrees address everything from architecture to universities and wage a return to normalcy. But the sheer combat required will ensure that nobody's ever gonna give him credit.
It's an honor to have uh Professor Victor Davis Hansen to join us again on Pod Force One. He is, of course, a scholar of classical history and military strategy at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and a best-selling author. His latest book is out this week, and it's called The Counter-Revolution: The Fall and Rise. Of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. And judging by the buzz already, it's going to be another huge bestseller. Thank you so much for joining us, Victor. Thank you so much.
Well, thank you for having me, Ronda.
Uh Donald Trump is delighted by your book, it seems. He posted a Midnight Truth social saying how much he praised you. And uh he said, a curious, um, but I thought rather astute thing, he said that you know him uh perhaps better than he knows himself.
I think he meant that in the abstract rather than uh I met him before and talked to him, but I don't I wouldn't claim to know him. I think he means that just analyzing what he does, you know what I mean? I think that's what you and he meant. that I I think I can understand pretty well by it's kind of a I don't know, it's kind of a paradox that I'm speaking from my great-great-grandmother's farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. But if you're kind of free in some ways of the bustle of Washington and gossip and rumors and counter-theories, and you just look at what Donald Trump says and does, it gives you you lose some intimacy of, you know, unknown sources and all that. But I think it allows you to just be kind.
Kind of analytical in a way, and I think that's what he meant.
Yes, and I I I find that um men like him, sort of men of uh agency and always moving forward, don't have a lot of time or the inclination for introspection. And uh I think he finds it quite interesting when someone analyses him deeply. uh and dispassionately the way you have um in both your Trump books, um, The Case for Trump in twenty nineteen and this I think you call it the sequel, um, The Counter Revolution. Um ha have you talked to him much over the years?
Uh w well I would put it this way, at certain times he calls me and he uh explains what he's doing. Never it's never you know, and this y this will be familiar to you, no doubt too, he never has somebody pre prep you or say he's gonna call in ten minutes. He He says that he has a Rolodex or the electronic equivalent of a whole stable of people who write. And at various times an idea will come into his head or something that so he'll just call you out of the blue. It can be very late at night and something. So I would say at s kind of a regular period he will call me and Uh whether for good or bad, I don't try to tell him, you know, this is what I think. I let him explain it and then I try to say, uh let me understand this theory, you know what I mean?
And if he asks me to critique it I will. But I I don't think somebody out in Selma, California, should be offering opinions, you know, and the pr he he's calling to see how you are and sometimes to agree with something you've written or maybe to suggest that wasn't the whole story or something like that and then to explain this and you you learn a lot from listening to him and then he'll if he asks you for your opinion, but Yeah. I have kind of a I I've never called him on my own. I don't and I don't invite myself into I think he has enough to worry about is what I'm trying to say, without somebody. And I think as I look back at it, uh Miranda, some people on our side that became apostates, say a Marjorie Taylor Green or Tucker, I think they felt that because they had been very intimate with him in the sense
that they had been habutees at Mor Lago or they were on Air Force One, that they insidiously began to think that they could tell him things or they could and they forgot that he is the President of the United States and that they represent maybe one
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does Victor Davis Hanson say about Trump’s unexpected comeback and early political predictions?
0:00–12:17
2
How does Hanson describe the “counter‑revolution” concept and its impact on the GOP?
12:17–22:42
3
Why does Hanson argue that MAGA will outlive Trump and become a lasting political force?
22:42–33:17
4
What insights does Hanson share about his unique academic background and why he can analyze Trump dispassionately?
33:17–42:41
5
How does Hanson explain the relationship between Trump, his inner circle, and the Republican establishment?
42:41–51:13
6
What are Hanson’s predictions for the upcoming midterms and the future of the Republican Party?
51:13–1:01:33
7
How does Hanson assess the long‑term outlook for MAGA after Trump leaves office?
1:01:33–1:12:24
8
What personal and health reflections does Hanson share that shape his optimism for America’s future?
1:12:24–1:22:03
Speakers
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