Yes, the leaked Young Republicans group chat was vile. The racism, antisemitism, and adolescent fantasies of violence were revolting — and indefensible. But let’s be very clear: this wasn’t a reflection of the broader movement. It was a digital cesspool occupied by a few degenerates who confuse shock value for conviction. To portray them as representative of the next generation of conservatives is both dishonest and lazy — a cheap caricature masquerading as insight. (RELATED: The Group Chat Wasn’t an Anomaly — It Was a Mirror)
Most young Republicans aren’t hiding in fringe chatrooms or trading memes with Nazi nostalgia. They’re working hard, raising families, and fighting for the same values that have defined conservatism for generations: faith, family, and freedom. They’re not the future extremists the media warns you about — they’re the future taxpayers, business owners, and parents who still believe America is worth saving.
Young conservatives aren’t mutating into monsters; if anything, they’re maturing out of illusions.
The narrative that “the young right is radicalizing” misses what’s actually happening. Young conservatives aren’t mutating into monsters; if anything, they’re maturing out of illusions. They’ve watched their parents’ civility get trampled by activists who preach tolerance but practice tyranny. They’ve seen schools turn into indoctrination centers, comedy into confessionals, and masculinity into a medical diagnosis. So yes, they’re angry — but anger doesn’t make them dangerous. It makes them world-weary and wise to the game. They’ve seen what happens when idealism is weaponized and truth is treated like contraband. (RELATED: A Message to Young Conservatives: Get Involved)
Compare that to the young left, which radicalized years ago and was rewarded for it. They speak in corporate jargon about “equity” while torching free speech. They riot for social justice one day and report for diversity training the next, certain that moral superiority can be itemized on a résumé. When they destroy property, it’s “protest.” When they silence professors, it’s “balance.” When they bully students into submission, it’s “inclusion.” But when conservatives push back — when they simply ask to speak, question, or pray — it’s “hate.” The double standard is more than hypocrisy; it’s a hierarchy. A cultural caste system where only the approved kind of outrage is allowed to flourish. (RELATED: The Poisonous Fruit of Youth Worship)
The so-called “radicalization” on the right often amounts to dark humor mistaken for dogma. Spend 10 minutes online and you’ll see irony piled upon irony until journalists — desperate for ethical indignation — can’t tell parody from principle. Memes become manifestos; sarcasm becomes sin. It’s performative panic, not proof of a movement. Meanwhile, the average young Republican is far more interested in paying rent, protecting free speech, and preserving sanity in a culture that’s forgotten what sanity looks like.
What the media calls “radical” is often just politically incorrect realism. Young conservatives dare to say that men and women are different. They reject racial quotas. They want borders that mean something and schools that teach facts, not feelings. None of that is hateful — it’s incredibly healthy. It’s the reassertion of common sense in a country gaslit by gobbledygook.
If there’s a vacuum, it’s not moral but cultural. Young conservatives are rediscovering the power of faith, discipline, and purpose. They’re rebuilding meaning where institutions have abandoned it — in churches, families, small businesses, and tight-knit communities. What drives them is a sense that the West cannot survive on irony and algorithms alone. It’s less extremism than restoration, less rebellion than reclamation. In an age that mistakes apathy for sophistication, choosing order over chaos is the boldest act of all.
Are there bad actors on the right? Of course. Every movement has its fools and its fringe. But they are not the heartbeat of conservatism — they’re its infection. What was said in that leaked chat was revolting and indefensible, full stop. No decent conservative is here to defend it. But to pretend those comments define a generation is to misunderstand what’s really happening. The overwhelming majority of young Republicans aren’t spewing hate online — they’re volunteering in campaigns, studying economics, working two jobs, and trying to build something real in a culture that rewards tantrums over talent. The cure is not shame or censorship but strength and clarity. And that’s what most young Republicans already understand. They believe in hard work, in employment earned through merit, in the idea that the country’s greatness comes from the individual’s virtue, not a politician’s promises.
The Left used to be the rebellious counterculture. Now it’s the culture itself — bland, bloated, and about as funny as a tax audit. The new counterculture trades slogans for substance. And yes, like every counterculture, it has its bad actors — the reckless, the reactionary, the self-appointed prophets who mistake provocation for principle. But they are the background noise, not the main score.
So yes, a handful of idiots soiled the name of the Young Republicans. But they don’t speak for the thousands of young conservatives who are grounded, decent, and determined.
READ MORE from John Mac Ghlionn:
Katie Porter and the Art of Political Self-Immolation
The Most Dangerous Woman in Philanthropy
How to Write About Christianity While Knowing Nothing About It