Latest news with #BrilynHollyhand
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Stop Posting, and Start Legislating—A Message to the GOP from Gen Z
We remember. We remember the Paul Ryan years. We remember the lofty promises, the press conferences with tax cut charts, the selfies with Trump in the Roosevelt Room. And we remember the disappointment—because when Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and White House, barely anything bold got done. The border wasn't secured. Obamacare wasn't repealed. The swamp wasn't drained. The only thing that moved quickly was the clock—and opportunity slipped away. The bills stalled. The hearings dragged. The excuses piled up. And in the end, the status quo won. Again. A Make America Great Again (MAGA) baseball hat supporting President Donald Trump is pictured. A Make America Great Again (MAGA) baseball hat supporting President Donald Trump is here we are again. President Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office. Conservatives have momentum. The political stars are aligned like they haven't been in years. And yet? The same old D.C. inertia is setting in. Congress is snoozing through a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real change. There's no sense of urgency. No fire. No strategy. Just more performative politics as usual. The difference is: this time, we're paying attention. Gen Z conservatives didn't get off the couch and show up to the ballot box to watch history repeat itself. We're tired of politicians who post more than they produce. House and Senate Republicans—stop acting like influencers and start acting like lawmakers. You don't get to post selfies with Elon Musk or tweet your appreciation to DOGE if you won't even codify basic spending cuts like the DOGE Act. You can't coast on vibes while the country's on fire. You were sent to legislate, not livestream. You weren't elected to trend on X—you were elected to fix what's broken. Brilyn Hollyhand and President Donald Trump are pictured at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025. Brilyn Hollyhand and President Donald Trump are pictured at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025. Photo Courtesy of the White House Despite facing one of the most pivotal moments in modern political history, Congress still isn't working full weeks. Many lawmakers fly in Tuesday afternoon and are wheels-up by Thursday. Three-day workweeks in the middle of a national crisis? That's not leadership—that's laziness. Meanwhile, families across America are grinding five, six, even seven days a week just to stay afloat. Blue-collar workers don't get to call it a week by Wednesday night. Neither should the people writing our laws. If our representatives can't even put in a full week's work during a make-or-break presidency, maybe they don't deserve the job. I will never forget my first ever dinner with a U.S. senator. It was my 12th birthday, and we were in D.C., eating downtown after I had recorded some episodes of my podcast on Capitol Hill. He leaned across the table to me and said, "Brilyn, the first thing you're going to learn in this business is that in politics there are work horses and show horses. The work horses bring home the pork for the state that sent them there. The show horses run to the TV cameras. Be a work horse, and only join a cable show when you have an accomplishment to tout." That stuck with me—and I'm reminded of it right now more than ever. Because D.C. is overflowing with show horses. They gallop into every hearing, prance onto every panel, and leave before the hard work begins. This isn't just about optics. This is about outcomes. Republicans were given a second chance to do what they promised the first time. It's not enough to give speeches about the border. Close it. It's not enough to post videos in front of the IRS. Defund it. It's not enough to warn about weaponized government. Dismantle it. This is the moment to act, not admire the problem. Stop playacting reform—deliver it. The base isn't looking for another firebrand quote; we're looking for a signed bill. We're not asking for the moon—we're demanding that you work. Get off the couch. Get off cable news. And get legislation on the president's desk. Defund the weaponized bureaucracy. Close the border. Cut the waste. Stop acting like your job is to coast to retirement and start acting like your job is to represent us. If you need inspiration, look outside the Beltway—real Americans are hustling every day without fanfare. Why can't Congress? Gen Z is watching. And we have receipts. We're the most online, most informed, and most fed-up generation to ever engage in politics. We can see through the talking points. We recognize when someone's all flash and no follow-through. And we're not afraid to call it out—publicly, loudly, and often. You can't gaslight us with headlines. You can't distract us with Instagram posts. We see the floor schedule. We track the votes. We know the difference between working and pretending. If the GOP wastes another Trump term, it won't just be a policy failure—it'll be a generational betrayal. My generation won't forget. We didn't come this far just to watch you do nothing, again. We showed up because we believe in a different future—one that isn't dictated by lobbyists, legacy institutions, and leadership that loves the camera more than the country. Clock in, Congress. Or clock out—and make room for someone who will. Brilyn Hollyhand is an 18-year-old political commentator, chairman of the Republican National Committee's Youth Advisory Council, and bestselling author of One Generation Away: Why Now is the Time to Restore American Freedom. For more of his hot takes you can follow him on socials @BrilynHollyhand or visit The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Fox News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Dems promoting AOC, Sanders falls flat with young voters as Gen Z sees through false promises: RNC youth chair
The Democratic Party will be the "Titanic at the bottom of the ocean" come 2028, according to Gen Z political commentator Brilyn Hollyhand, who is on a mission to continue building conservative support among the youth vote following President Donald Trump's strides with the demographic in 2024. "They've actually put up figures like Jasmine Crockett and AOC and Bernie Sanders as their leaders. None of those people are inspiring Gen Z. None of those people are bringing more voters into the party. It's just making this weird, radical wing of the party be the vocal voices. So, by all means, let Jasmine Crockett, AOC and Bernie Sanders be the voice, the future of the DNC. It'll make our job easier come the midterms and come 2028," Hollyhand told Fox News Digital in an exclusive Zoom interview this week. "It's a really weird position that they've taken to go more radical than Kamala Harris. And that's why Kamala lost, because she was too radical," he said. Hollyhand, 18, is a political commentator and chair of the RNC's Youth Advisory Council who was invited to meet one-on-one with Trump in Alabama on Thursday, when the president delivered the University of Alabama's commencement speech. Hollyhand said that he and Trump discussed how to keep momentum among young voters following the 2024 election, when Gen Z voters swung to the right as Trump courted young people on TikTok and in podcasts. The youth vote, he explained, had long been in the Democrat Party's court before Trump upped the ante on youth outreach during last year's election cycle. The 18-year-old activist does not graduate high school until later this month, but he has met Trump five times as of Thursday. The pair discussed how the Trump White House can continue expanding on the strides the Trump campaign made with young people, including Hollyhand suggesting Trump tweak former President Ronald Reagan's famed 1980 campaign question: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" DEMOCRATS ACCUSED OF BEING 'OUT OF TOUCH' AS NEW POLL SHOWS DROP IN SUPPORT FROM YOUNG VOTERS "A comment I made to him was, 'Mr. President, I'm a huge history nerd. And so I loved when you talked about that famous Reagan quote of, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' And that's something he echoed on the campaign trail a bunch himself. But something I specifically pointed out to the president is, 'We can tweak that a little bit.' And he said, 'What do you mean? What can we do?' I said, 'Well, now all you have to do is walk out on that stage and ask Gen Z, 'Are you're better off then you were 100 days ago?'" Hollyhand recounted. "The resounding answer every single time is going to be, 'Yes.' I mean, gas is cheaper, the border's secure, and the president performed CPR on the American dream. So, I think everybody in my generation can agree, whether you love Trump or hate Trump, he is improving the nation and making life better for us," he added. The political activist said that he floated to Trump that he could hold a 2025 version of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats to talk directly to voters in a virtual setting, and he also told Trump that he has a "secret weapon" going into the 2026 midterms. "I said, 'Mr. President, you're doing this crazy novel concept in politics called actually doing what the people elected you to do in office and actually keeping your promises. I know we never see politicians doing that, but you're doing that and Gen Z loves it,'" Hollyhand said. On the flip side, Democrats have dangled promises of free college and cheaper costs of living to young people, while comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and Elon Musk to a king, he argued. Hollyhand said such messaging has swayed some youths to rally around left-wing Democrats, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but that many Gen Zers are able to see through the "false bill of goods from the Democrats." DEMOCRATS' IDENTITY CRISIS: YOUTH REVOLT ROCKS PARTY AFTER TRUMP COMEBACK The Democrat Party is in the midst of finding its footing and platform on a swath of issues ranging from transgender ideology to immigration and the economy after voters poured out in support of Trump and his policies in 2024 in an election that was viewed as a rebuke of left-wing policies. High-profile Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have amplified their positions within the party in recent months, including hosting anti-Trump rallies and speculation mounting that Ocasio-Cortez could make a Senate or presidential run. Hollyhand said that Trump could use his "secret weapon" ahead of the midterms and publish bullet-point lists of his accomplishments, which he argued Democrats will struggle to campaign against. DEMOCRATS' VICE CHAIR IGNITES CIVIL WAR, TARGETING 'ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL' INCUMBENTS IN PRIMARIES "I think that's going to be a really hard thing to campaign against come the midterms. I think it's going to be super hard to campaign against this list of accomplishments come 2028. Where the Democrats are trying to … scare Gen Z with these emotions and dangle free things in front of them and say, 'oh, well, they're Nazis and they're Hitler and Elon Musk is trying to be a king.' And then we come out and just say, 'Hey, here's a bullet point list of the things we've accomplished in the first 100 days.' That's a really hard thing to campaign against," he said. Hollyhand underscored that his meeting with Trump backstage at the commencement speech was relaxed and stood in stark contrast with how the media portrays the president. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "This guy is genuine. Like the first thing he said was, 'You've been killing it.' He took the time to say, 'Hey, I actually watched your hit on Fox News this morning.' He could have been saying, 'Hey, Brilyn, get these youth numbers up, improve our numbers in this college campus, get more students out there in that arena.' He immediately turned it to, 'Hey man, you've been killin' it. …. That shows just the testament of who the guy is. And it wasn't like a serious back and forth. We were laughing, we're cutting it up," Hollyhand said.
04-05-2025
- Politics
Does Gen Z support Donald Trump?
Brilyn Hollyhand, chairman of the RNC Youth Advisory Council, discusses Gen Z and their support of President Trump.
