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The legacy media, the so-called anti-MAGA Right, and the Democrat grandees in Congress have two things in common: They never wanted the U.S.-Iran war to go in America’s favor. Many of the critiques of Operation Epic Fury were not historically empirical, meaning they didn’t compare the ongoing conflict with Iran to past U.S. wars, such as the bombing campaign in Serbia or even the war in Afghanistan. But the evidence—in five weeks alone, the United States, with the Israeli Air Force, wiped out most of the top echelon of the four ruling cliques in the Iranian nation—was there, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words”: “We’ve never taken on a country of 93 million people that had the most fearsome, terrible reputation of being dangerous and unpredictable, and running the Middle East with a ring-of-fire proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon—indomitable. They had terrified seven presidents. And yet, in five weeks, we destroyed its ability to make war.”(00:00

Operation Epic Fury was never the pretext for a larger, endless war, and the so-called anti-MAGA right—Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, or Marjorie Taylor Greene—should know better than to label it as such, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” The whole subtext of the Iran campaign is this: While regime change is not the primary agenda, America’s weakening of the regime may spur people to rise up and overthrow the government. (00:00) Anti MAGA Critics (01:34) Iran Strikes Backlash (02:34) Not a Forever War (04:10) Trump Rhetoric and Restraint (06:15) Betrayal or Bigger Agenda

We don't know what the ultimate prognosis of this war is, but if we take the long view, it's far more favorable to our interests than it is to our enemies. The media’s 24-hour ragebait cycle can’t explain what’s actually unfolding in Iran. While critics swing wildly between calling Trump a “warmonger” and “weak,” the reality points to a regime that’s been militarily and strategically crippled. Meanwhile, adversaries like Russia and China are feeling the ripple effects, and NATO’s cracks are on full display. The long view tells a very different story—and it’s one the headlines won’t admit, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

Eric Swalwell’s forced exit from the California governor’s race, and later U.S. House of Representatives, exposes the Democrat machine’s rank hypocrisy: It discards him not out of genuine concern for victims, but for political self-preservation, while ignoring similar character flaws in other candidates and the far greater trail of victims left by decades of one-party rule that has made life miserable for ordinary Californians. (00:00) Swalwell Suspended (02:00) Party Machine Purge (03:24) Other Democrats Baggage (05:41) California Policy Victims (09:18) Accountability And Closing

The Democrat Party, which brags that it doesn’t let democracy die in darkness, has a bad habit of culling candidates it feels are politically antithetical to its agenda. Take Eric Swalwell, for example. Swalwell joined an already crowded field for California governor in November 2025.  He threatened to break up the Democrat field, as there are more viable Democrat candidates than Republicans. Make no mistake: Had Swalwell been enjoying a healthy lead in the polls going into last Friday, he’d still be running for governor, and these allegations would’ve never seen the light of day. Like Joe Biden’s failed reelection bid in 2024, the Democrat establishment made the strategic decision to no longer cloak Swalwell’s sex harassment allegations and instead threw its weight behind a more viable candidate. “But my point is, if Eric Swalwell had been way ahead in the gubernatorial race, I don’t think that any of this would’ve surfaced. It would’ve been analogous to Joe Biden. He would’ve been a useful vessel, and

Add up a corrupt admissions system, a corrupt DEI industry, a corrupt therapeutic curriculum, a corrupt method of grading and a corrupt, politicized faculty, and it’s no wonder the Ivy League is in crisis and higher education is in panic. Harvard, with the help of the state of Massachusetts, whose Democrat governor is an alumnus, hopes to issue $675 million in tax-exempt bonds as applications took a 21% dive for the 2025-26 academic year, according to the Washington Free Beacon. This, coupled with rising. “grade inflation”—more and more professors giving out A’s to unqualified students—has many asking right now: Are America’s preeminent institutions of higher learning still worth their salt? Probably not, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” By that I mean, I went to a rural high school. It wasn’t that competitive, Selma High School. They would just say, “If Victor Hanson applies to Harvard, and he has an A, it’s the same A as somebody from Sacred Heart P

Following the Democrats’ crushing defeat at the ballot box in 2024, the DNC launched a postmortem to answer a very simple yet surprisingly elusive question: What went wrong? Their findings? On 70-30 issues, Democrats landed on the 30 side. Their solution? Democrats aren’t changing their message—they’re just rebranding the mess. From Pete Buttigieg in flannel to Tim Walz playing hunter, the “working-class pivot” looks more like political cosplay. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to connect on issues that actually matter to voters. The bottom line: You can’t fake authenticity—and voters aren’t buying it.

Most NATO members were unwilling to directly assist the United States and Israel in their fight to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying, “This isn’t our war.” The United Kingdom’s mission to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina in 1982 wasn’t the United States’ war, yet President Ronald Reagan still gave them the supplies necessary to retake the islands. Germany’s invasion of France wasn’t our war, yet Franklin D. Roosevelt still sent military equipment, and later soldiers, to retake Western Europe. However, Europe’s cold shoulder may not be out of spite, but an inability to help at all, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words”: “They have dreamed of utopia and a good life, and the result is that their fertility rate is 1.3. They are shrinking. They are aging. They’re not competitive. So they don’t have the manpower, even though they have a 450 million-person population. Europe is larger than us by 100 million. “And even though they have a $22 trillion

President Donald Trump recently outlined the endgame for Iran. How does it end? There are three scenarios:

Within the first 30 days of the conflict in Iran, the United States and Israel have achieved military successes not previously seen in modern warfare: a country, with the population of Texas, has had its entire navy and air force decimated within a month. Battlefield wins mean nothing if you can’t sell the war back home. Here’s how President Donald Trump can make the political reality equal to the military reality, which is a near success. 00:00 30-Day Air Supremacy 02:32 Iran Under Pressure 03:47 Cutting Off Resupply 04:31 Counting the True Cost 06:04 Messaging the War 08:23 Regime Change and No Ground War

Like the Wild West hero who rides back into town just as the community is in peril, former Gov. George Allen has rejoined a fight he helped win in 2020, establishing a nonpartisan way to draw Virginia’s congressional districts. Now critics want to undo all that effort, and Allen sits down with Joe Thomas—whom he calls “Set ’Em Up Joe,” after the Vern Gosdin song—to take us inside the story.

Victor Davis Hanson breaks down the media hysteria over Iran, anti-Trump protests, and the stakes for 2026. After everything Donald Trump has taken on, will division hand Democrats the win?

President Donald Trump endured years of the most vicious, coordinated lawfare this nation has ever seen.  We overcame that unprecedented assault together in one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. But right now,  a lot of people in MAGA are losing perspective. Frustrations bubble up over pace or one decision that we find disagreeable, and suddenly we are nitpicking the man who stood in the arena while most people just watched.Are our temporary disagreements worth handing victory to the very people who weaponize the government against him? No, argues Drew Allen, Daily Signal California correspondent, on this week’s video commentary.

There are two wars being fought right now in Iran: a military one, which the United States is dominating on all fronts, and a political one, which is proving more difficult than the former. Why? President Donald Trump has a lot to contend with right now: the MAGA base, the crazy Democrat opposition, the midterms, the economy, the charge that he’s too influenced by Israel, and the general repulsion of the American people for anything to do with the Middle East, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words:” (00:00) Two Wars Framework (01:19) Why Not Decimate Iran (02:43) MAGA Base and Deterrence (04:30) Economy, Midterms, Israel (07:14) No Boots on Ground

The Left has spent every waking moment the last month trying to convince the public that the Trump administration’s so-called “war” in Iran isn’t legal. But they keep running into the same problem: Historically, they did the same thing, and on a much larger scale, argues Victor Davis Hanson on part 1 of his examination of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:” “The war is legal, and the hysteria about it is media-driven, as a part of the left's ability to weaken the presidency.” (00:00) Is the War Legal? (02:00) Libya and Afghanistan Comparisons (04:40) Trump’s War Aims (06:36) Regime Change Debate (07:52) Military Wins vs Politics

While California Democrats thought they could swarm the gubernatorial general election ballot with Democrats and win, Republicans had other ideas.  As of now, Republican candidates Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton are leading the jungle primary neck and neck, with Bianco at 16% and Hilton at 17% approval rating, explains Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”(00:00) California Recall Shock (02:04) Jungle Primary Backfires (03:02) Newsom Record Under Fire (04:55) Wildfires And Rebuilding (05:40) Outmigration And Taxes (07:54) Fraud Exposé Smear (09:09) Boondoggles And Green Failures (09:59) Energy Refineries Gas Prices

The only consistent part of the Democrat Party agenda over the last decade is Trump Derangement Syndrome. Their inconsistent nihilism is at all time high: Within the same breath Democrats both mock Trump, saying that he “always chickens out” (TACO) of a fight but decry the U.S. operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and military strikes against the Iranian regime. Presumptive Democrat presidential primary nominee Gavin Newsom says he wants to punch Trump in the mouth.Sen. Cory Booker yells at ICE agents in airports as passengers waiting in line smile in the background. For the first time ever in U.S. history they took a former president to trial. What I'm getting at is there's no consistent message amongst the party of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words” (00:00) Democratic Nihilism Explained (01:29) Iran and Policy Whiplash (02:20) TDS and Unhinged Leaders (05:06) Collusion Hoax to Lawfare (07:39) Why the Party Changed

For all practical purposes, there is no longer a Democratic Party, at least as we’ve known it for 50 to 100 years. It is a full‑blown socialist revolutionary party. The players of that party who are running things are not even Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries. They’re people like Rep. Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico in Texas, Zohran Mamdani and Elizabeth Warren. What happened to Clinton‑era Democrats? Globalization and open borders would be a good place to start looking, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

By all traditional methodology and criteria, Iran is now inert: naval and air forces eviscerated, missile defenses offline, and an army rendered largely useless, as no one is fighting on the ground. However, tactical success is not necessarily equivalent to strategic victory. It is hard to think of a single battle lost in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet the United States lacked a plan for strategic resolution in either theater. With this in mind, Iran’s current strategy is as follows: The mullahs can afford to lose their military because, ultimately, without U.S. troops on the ground, the regime will remain intact. This, and many other factors, begs the question: Where does Trump go from here? asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “In other words, they're saying as long as we have oil, Kharg Island, and as long as we have these huge oil fields, when you get tired of pounding us into rubble, you're going go back to the United States. Israel's going go back and be q

Recent legislative actions by some Virginia Democrats threaten to undermine the reform Brian Cannon helped pass five years ago.   It was rare moment where both parties aligned to protect democracy in passing a bipartisan constitutional amendment in Virginia that aimed to remove politicians’ control over drawing district maps, explains the head of NoGerrymanderingVA.org, when he joined Joe Thomas, The Daily Signal’s Virginia correspondent, today.   “ I'm a democrat, and you and I probably don't vote the same way 90% of the time when we go into the voting booth, but I believe in your right to cast a meaningful vote in a free and fair election.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices