The Kids Are Alt-Right? The Revenge of the Dumbed-Down

New Authoritarian Playbook: Rewrite History, Silence Schools, Win Youth

On Friday, the NY Times noted that Señor TACO had disparaged Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the end of slavery, complaining that the national holiday even exists, raw meat for his base. His “decision to snub Juneteenth— a day that has been cherished by generations of Black Americans before it was named a federal holiday in 2021— is part of a pattern of words and actions by Trump that minimize, ignore or even erase some of the experiences and history of Black people in the United States. Since taking office in January, he has tried to reframe the country’s past involving racism and discrimination by de-emphasizing that history or at times denying that it happened. Government websites have been scrubbed of hundreds of words, including ‘injustice’ and ‘oppression.’ Federal agencies eliminated or obscured the contributions of Black heroes, from the Tuskegee Airmen who fought in the military, to Harriet Tubman, who guided enslaved people along the Underground Railroad. School libraries were purged of writings by pre-eminent Black authors like Maya Angelou. Trump has assailed the Smithsonian Institution for what he characterized as ‘divisive, race-centered ideology’ in its exhibits on race. He ordered the renaming of monuments to honor Confederate soldiers who fought to preserve slavery… Melanie Campbell, chairwoman of the Power of the Ballot Action Fund, an advocacy group focused on policies for Black Americans, said that larger issues were at play. ‘He’s clear that he wants a white America,’ Campbell said of Trump, ‘and what white America looks like for him does not include anybody of color.’”

Señor Trumpanzee’s regime has restarted talks with Harvard  to potentially settle the acrimonious dispute that led him to wage a far-reaching attack on the school and raised stark questions about the federal government’s place in higher education. The White House sent a letter laying out conditions that could resolve the conflict. Of course, Trump’s war against universities isn’t just with Harvard. Authoritarians have always feared universities because they nurture critical thinking, historical awareness, and dissent—all threats to a strongman’s power. A well-educated population is harder to manipulate, more likely to resist propaganda, and far more capable of recognizing creeping fascism when it rears its head. Trump’s particular obsession with elite institutions like Harvard is fueled by his deep insecurity and lifelong resentment toward people who are smarter, more accomplished, and culturally unimpressed by his bluster. But his assault on higher education goes far beyond personal vendettas—it’s part of a broader strategy to dismantle the institutions that cultivate independent thought and replace them with loyalty tests, censorship, and ideological conformity. By cutting off funding, launching spurious investigations, and demonizing academia as a nest of “Marxists” and “globalists,” Trump aims to cow universities into submission and purge them of what he sees as liberal influence. In truth, the real target isn't Harvard or even higher education— it’s the very idea that facts matter, that evidence Trumps demagoguery, and that knowledge is power. To Trump and his movement, universities are dangerous not because they’re broken, but because they work… because they educate citizens, not subjects.

That said, how about this: America's youngest voters are far likelier to vote Republican than their older siblings, according to the just-released Yale Youth Poll. “Our data uncovered an interesting divide within under–30s as a cohort:  When asked whether they would vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in the 2026 congressional elections in their district, voters aged 22–29 favored the Democratic candidate by a margin of 6.4 points, but voters aged 18–21 [the Tok Tok generation] favored the Republican by a margin of 11.7 points.” 

I don’t know about you, but I found this to be a shocking inversion of generational norms. For decades, the youngest voters have consistently leaned left, driven by progressive stances on racial justice, climate, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive freedom, economic inequality, etc. So why is Gen Z’s leading edge— the 18-to-21-year-olds— swinging toward authoritarianism, even as Trump openly shreds Black history, assaults higher education and signals that democracy itself is optional? Part of the answer lies in how this subgroup has been shaped by a fragmented and algorithmically manipulated information environment. This is the TikTok cohort— politically curious but often civically disoriented, fed a firehose of edgy contrarianism, crypto-bro libertarianism and alt-right memes that dress up fascist talking points as “anti-woke” rebellion. And while older Gen Z voters came of age watching Trump tear children from their parents and trash the planet, younger ones have grown up watching Biden fumble and compromise— a crucial difference in how the two groups interpret the stakes.

There may also something deeper: a nihilism born of betrayal. Many of these young people were in middle school during the climate strikes, the COVID-lockdowns and the George Floyd uprisings. They watched their elders take to the streets, scream for justice, and then… not much changed. The pandemic upended their adolescence. Their schools became battlegrounds for book bans and bathroom bills and the economy they’re entering feels increasingly rigged. For some, Trump’s cruelty, wrapped in a cartoonish performance of strength, seems to have become perversely attractive in that context— not because they don’t understand what he is, but perhaps because they think nothing else— think Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries— has worked. In that void, some young voters are turning to rage, irony and reaction. If the system is broken and the good guys are feckless, why not root for the villain who owns the stage? It’s a dangerous impulse— and should be a wake-up call to Democrats who still think facts and decency are enough to win hearts and minds.

Other findings from the poll are less disheartening. Among voters overall, 46.5% had a favorable opinion of Trump, while 52.7% had an unfavorable opinion (net favorability -6.2). Vance’s net favorability was -13.5, and Elon Musk’s net favorability was -18.9. Kamala’s net favorability was -12.5, and Biden’s net favorability was -21.3. Among voters under 30, Trump’s net favorability was -17.9; Vance came in at -30; and Musk was the least popular, at -34.7. Kamala came in at -1, and Biden was at -19.5. Right-wing propaganda sure worked on Biden! Among Democrats and independents leaning blue, AOC has a +60 favorability, while John Fetterman has a minus 17.2 rating.