David Austin Walsh
@davidaustinwalsh.bsky.social
Historian. Academic Advisor @ University of Virginia. Columnist @ Boston Review. Book: TAKING AMERICA BACK: THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT AND THE FAR RIGHT // Yale Press // April 2024
It definitely puts a dent in the MAGA invincibility myth and has raised questions about the depth of elite support for the cause.
Hell, even Bill Ackman tweeted this a few hours ago.
Hell, even Bill Ackman tweeted this a few hours ago.
November 5, 2025 at 11:52 AM
It definitely puts a dent in the MAGA invincibility myth and has raised questions about the depth of elite support for the cause.
Hell, even Bill Ackman tweeted this a few hours ago.
Hell, even Bill Ackman tweeted this a few hours ago.
Even the antisemitic and racist comments he made -- which were clear and explicit -- were delivered in considerably calmer and less bombastic tones than on his own show. (Although when you actually read what he said, it's unbelievably vile stuff.)
November 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Even the antisemitic and racist comments he made -- which were clear and explicit -- were delivered in considerably calmer and less bombastic tones than on his own show. (Although when you actually read what he said, it's unbelievably vile stuff.)
The problem with these analyses is that while they may be strictly true on their merits -- your average GOP voter from suburban Pittsburgh isn't a white nationalist or Nazi -- they tell very little about the actual trajectory of the Republican Party over the past decade.
November 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The problem with these analyses is that while they may be strictly true on their merits -- your average GOP voter from suburban Pittsburgh isn't a white nationalist or Nazi -- they tell very little about the actual trajectory of the Republican Party over the past decade.
The irony is that the alternative to elite deference politics is left-wing populism in the vein of Zohran, Bernie, and AOC -- which is a pretty diverse stage in and of itself and also relies on a multiracial and multigender coalition, but with actual *democratic* substance.
October 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
The irony is that the alternative to elite deference politics is left-wing populism in the vein of Zohran, Bernie, and AOC -- which is a pretty diverse stage in and of itself and also relies on a multiracial and multigender coalition, but with actual *democratic* substance.
And the end results of this have been *absolutely catastrophic.* This is the ideological turn that enabled RBG to stay on the Supreme Court until she died, guaranteeing a right-wing majority dooming us to DOBBS and now, apparently, the end of the Voting Rights Act.
October 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
And the end results of this have been *absolutely catastrophic.* This is the ideological turn that enabled RBG to stay on the Supreme Court until she died, guaranteeing a right-wing majority dooming us to DOBBS and now, apparently, the end of the Voting Rights Act.
Becca Rothfeld rightly skewers this in her review in the @washingtonpost.com: “representation” as an inadequate substitute for anti-racist policy. This has *always* been true of elite deference politics, because it equates career outcomes (being “in the room where it happens”) with actual policy.
October 28, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Becca Rothfeld rightly skewers this in her review in the @washingtonpost.com: “representation” as an inadequate substitute for anti-racist policy. This has *always* been true of elite deference politics, because it equates career outcomes (being “in the room where it happens”) with actual policy.
The problem is that KJP contradicts herself *in the book* by outright admitting she didn’t think Harris could win, which is why the Chotiner interview was so damning.
October 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The problem is that KJP contradicts herself *in the book* by outright admitting she didn’t think Harris could win, which is why the Chotiner interview was so damning.
And this is *exactly* the move that KJP made in her defense of Harris (and, to a lesser extent, even Biden himself) in her interview.
It was Harris's turn, she was treated poorly because she was a Black woman, she (and Biden) were owed loyalty, etc.
It was Harris's turn, she was treated poorly because she was a Black woman, she (and Biden) were owed loyalty, etc.
October 28, 2025 at 4:37 PM
And this is *exactly* the move that KJP made in her defense of Harris (and, to a lesser extent, even Biden himself) in her interview.
It was Harris's turn, she was treated poorly because she was a Black woman, she (and Biden) were owed loyalty, etc.
It was Harris's turn, she was treated poorly because she was a Black woman, she (and Biden) were owed loyalty, etc.
I wrote for @bostonreview.bsky.social about this after Mamdani’s upset win in the primary. The entire structure of the Democratic Party establishment in the 2010s revolved around deferring to powerful elites using the language of empowering the marginalized.
October 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I wrote for @bostonreview.bsky.social about this after Mamdani’s upset win in the primary. The entire structure of the Democratic Party establishment in the 2010s revolved around deferring to powerful elites using the language of empowering the marginalized.
My wife spotted my book in the wild at Powell’s Books in Portland.
October 26, 2025 at 12:41 PM
My wife spotted my book in the wild at Powell’s Books in Portland.
And I do think it's ominous that both Tucker and Majorie Taylor Greene -- who have, to their credit, been exponentially better on Gaza than most of the senior Democratic leadership -- continue to embrace the language of Christian anti-Judaism in their public remarks.
October 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
And I do think it's ominous that both Tucker and Majorie Taylor Greene -- who have, to their credit, been exponentially better on Gaza than most of the senior Democratic leadership -- continue to embrace the language of Christian anti-Judaism in their public remarks.
If a history of unconditional support for Israel is going to be an albatross around the neck for 2028 Democratic candidates -- and I think it will -- there is also an opening for anti-Zionism to emerge as a force in the post-Trump succession wars, especially if Tucker runs.
October 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
If a history of unconditional support for Israel is going to be an albatross around the neck for 2028 Democratic candidates -- and I think it will -- there is also an opening for anti-Zionism to emerge as a force in the post-Trump succession wars, especially if Tucker runs.
Something from the essay that I think is worth underlining:
While the fissures in the Democratic Party over Israel/Palestine have dominated the news cycle, Democratic voters are actually pretty unified on the issue. They're pro-Palestine. It's GOP voters who have real divides.
While the fissures in the Democratic Party over Israel/Palestine have dominated the news cycle, Democratic voters are actually pretty unified on the issue. They're pro-Palestine. It's GOP voters who have real divides.
October 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Something from the essay that I think is worth underlining:
While the fissures in the Democratic Party over Israel/Palestine have dominated the news cycle, Democratic voters are actually pretty unified on the issue. They're pro-Palestine. It's GOP voters who have real divides.
While the fissures in the Democratic Party over Israel/Palestine have dominated the news cycle, Democratic voters are actually pretty unified on the issue. They're pro-Palestine. It's GOP voters who have real divides.
If only someone had written a book warning about this…
October 14, 2025 at 11:01 PM
If only someone had written a book warning about this…
Assigned BAP's doctoral thesis for class today to open up discussion about eugenics, gender, and sexuality and it's even worse than I remember it being.
My personal favorite part is when he admits his views are the same as the Nazis' but he resents the guilt-by-association.
My personal favorite part is when he admits his views are the same as the Nazis' but he resents the guilt-by-association.
October 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Assigned BAP's doctoral thesis for class today to open up discussion about eugenics, gender, and sexuality and it's even worse than I remember it being.
My personal favorite part is when he admits his views are the same as the Nazis' but he resents the guilt-by-association.
My personal favorite part is when he admits his views are the same as the Nazis' but he resents the guilt-by-association.
Where does one look to for mentorship as a middle-aged, mid-career burnout? (Besides this guy, of course.)
September 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Where does one look to for mentorship as a middle-aged, mid-career burnout? (Besides this guy, of course.)
Yggy approvingly quoting-tweeting me on the Other Platform? What is the world coming to?
September 17, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Yggy approvingly quoting-tweeting me on the Other Platform? What is the world coming to?
Man, Robert Redford got out of here at the right time.
September 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Man, Robert Redford got out of here at the right time.
Inordinately excited about my new coaster for the office.
September 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Inordinately excited about my new coaster for the office.
...then it's a kind of antisemitism that is *totally* removed from the kind of political antisemitism that animated European (and American!) politics in the 19th and 20th centuries.
August 17, 2025 at 1:24 AM
...then it's a kind of antisemitism that is *totally* removed from the kind of political antisemitism that animated European (and American!) politics in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The author in question.
August 13, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The author in question.
Hey, Scott McConnell endorsed the syllabus, so I guess that covers my right flank!
August 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Hey, Scott McConnell endorsed the syllabus, so I guess that covers my right flank!
I want to thank the folks who responded to this thread for giving me some really great ideas about contemporary texts to assign, which make up the bulk of the final class sessions. x.com/DavidAstinWa...
August 13, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I want to thank the folks who responded to this thread for giving me some really great ideas about contemporary texts to assign, which make up the bulk of the final class sessions. x.com/DavidAstinWa...