Podcast Summary: "The Left is Violent | Change My Mind"

Louder with Crowder – October 1, 2025

Episode Overview

Theme:
Steven Crowder returns to the "Change My Mind" series, this time arguing the premise that "the left is violent"—specifically, that political violence in the U.S. is predominantly perpetrated by the left in 2025. The discussion is set at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and covers definitions of political violence, recent events (notably the assassination of Charlie Kirk), media bias, polling data, and whether the left/right divide accurately describes the problem.

Throughout several in-depth and candid conversations with people of varied viewpoints, Crowder explores definitions, motives, and systemic causes, while defending his assertion through anecdotes, statistics, and first-hand experience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Political Violence (04:00–05:00)

• Crowder and participants agree on a definition: political violence is “violence as a tool being used toward a political end,” not just crime broadly.
  • Notable quote:
    “If you go out and run someone over because of their politics, that would be political.” — Steven Crowder [04:31]
• Agreement is sought to ensure conversation is about targeted, purposeful acts motivated by ideology.

2. Statistics & Disproportion – Is the Left More Violent? (10:00–15:00)

• Crowder asserts that, especially in 2025, left-wing political violence far exceeds right-wing, referencing polls and incidents (e.g., the assassination of Charlie Kirk).
  • Notable data:
    "The YouGov poll said, ‘Is political violence acceptable?’ 77% of conservatives said not at all. Only 38% of those on the left said not at all. 62% said somewhat to completely acceptable.” — Crowder [12:06]
• He challenges his guests to provide equivalent examples of right-wing violence, arguing such symmetry does not exist.

3. Media Reporting & Biases (06:45, 29:00, 30:00)

• Participants and Crowder agree media often inaccurately or incompletely characterizes violence, and postulate about events before facts are established, which can exacerbate division.
  • “Our media is... when they make these statements... it will become political before we’ve even fully fleshed everything out.” — Guest [06:49]
• Crowder raises concerns about selective reporting and omission of left-wing violence in many academic and media sources.

4. Examples and Case Studies (07:15–08:30, 27:10–28:00)

• The murder of Charlie Kirk is identified as a clear case of leftist political violence (perpetrator’s motives explicitly political and anti-conservative).
  • “The express motive of the terrorist who assassinated Charlie Kirk was politics...to take out someone of his political persuasion and make others...afraid to express their opinions.” — Crowder [08:30]
• Portland’s Aaron Danielson shooting (2020), Waukesha parade attack (2021), and George Floyd riots are cited as left-driven but “not included” in widely cited databases.
• Discussion on whether violence by individuals who claim affiliation with a side, but act for personal or unclear reasons (e.g., the Hortmans case), fits the “political violence” definition.

5. Rhetoric, Demonization, and The Role of Leadership (15:00–20:00)

• Crowder argues left-wing leadership and media have painted the right as fascists, Nazis, and genocidal, radicalizing their own base.
  • “We kept saying that people like Charlie Kirk...were fascists...it's incumbent upon us to tone this down” — Crowder [16:00]
  • Guest: “It feels so polarized right now. It's even hard to find common ground on anything.” — Christina [17:32]
• He emphasizes the necessity for accountability and moderation in rhetoric to de-escalate tensions.

6. Personal Risk and Security (19:07–20:49)

• Crowder shares practical impacts—having to spend heavily on security to host such discussions, while leftist speakers allegedly face no comparable threats.
  • “This is why... the reason I stopped doing this for years is because every single time out was a violent attack.” — Crowder [11:00]
  • Guest (female pastor): “I'm a female pastor in deep East Texas...I too live with a fear, but it's just, it's different for me.” — Guest [20:53]

7. Accountability vs. Both Sides Argument (22:14–25:25)

• Crowder questions the efficacy of saying "violence comes from both sides" when, by his account, the evidence is overwhelmingly one-sided.
  • “Both sides-ing it...lets the side that's responsible for it off the hook...how is that pointing the finger? It's identifying the problem and not repeating history." — Crowder [24:07]
• Guest is hesitant to endorse more aggressive calling out of “the left,” reflecting on the dangers of blanket blame.

8. Problems with Data and Institutional Failure (27:10–30:00)

• Crowder details the flaws in commonly cited violence data—claims left-wing violence (e.g., George Floyd riots, Aaron Danielson killing) are omitted from datasets, while right-wing incidents are over-represented due to source bias (by project authors themselves engaged in leftist activism).
  • “All the studies from left-wing sources don't include that. Is that bothersome?” — Crowder [29:35]

9. Proposed Solutions: Policy & Rhetorical (31:50–36:11)

• Crowder offers prescriptions:
  1. Leftist leadership must take responsibility and moderate rhetoric.
  2. Change "soft on crime" policies (e.g., no cash bail, three strikes on violent felonies).
  3. "Ruthless, lawful self-defense" for conservatives.
• Discussion with guests about practicalities, with some support for criminal justice reform proposals.

10. Global vs. U.S. Framing and Ideological Definitions (38:20–44:50)

• Some guests challenge Crowder’s U.S.-centric framing, raising global contexts (e.g., leftist violence in communist China)—prompting debate over what “left” or “right” means cross-culturally.
  • “You can't say KKK equals conservative because it doesn’t. Most slaveholders were Democrats.” — Crowder [45:02]

11. Religion, Root Causes, and the Loss of Faith (57:28–69:21)

• Crowder and Andrew (guest) discuss the deeper, spiritual underpinnings of societal violence and hatred—the decline of organized religion and the “replacement of God with the state.”
  • “Who seeks to replace faith in the father with the state?...That is the goal of leftist policies.” — Crowder [58:59]
  • “I don't see political violence as the problem, I see it as the symptom. And I think the problem is our lack of religion.” — Andrew [57:47]
• Debate over whether Christians/conservatives should accept martyrdom or defend themselves, referencing scriptural precedent.

12. On Civil Discourse and the Limits of Dialogue (85:04)

• Multiple guests and Crowder agree on the importance of civil discussion but lament that for him, and allegedly other conservatives, safety is a constant concern.
  • “We can't [have these conversations] because we get killed. That's the point.” — Crowder [84:35]

Notable Quotes & Highlights

• On the left-right violence disparity:
  “If you look at the polls...Those who identify as liberal support political violence at a ratio of 6 to 1 to conservatives.” — Crowder [12:06]

• On media and data manipulation:
  “All the studies from left-wing sources don't include that [leftist political violence]. Is that bothersome?” — Crowder [29:35]
  “Data is being presented to the public deliberately, dishonestly, to victim blame.” — Crowder [27:10]

• Personal risk for right-leaning public figures:
  “When you perform on stage, do you need metal detectors? ... I have since I was 19 years old.” — Crowder [19:07]
  "We literally can't have these discussions on our side unless we have it [security]." — Crowder [21:23]

• On the need for accountability:
  “Do you think the both sides-ing it...lets the side that's responsible for it off the hook, the clear aggressor?” — Crowder [22:14]

• On solutions:
  “The left needs to...take accountability, say, look, we have gone too far here. This needs to be toned down.” — Crowder [34:45]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic Summary | |-----------|--------------| | 00:00–04:00 | Show intro, why “Change My Mind” is returning, premise set | | 04:00–05:00 | Defining “political violence” and setting parameters | | 07:15–08:30 | The Charlie Kirk assassination as leftist political violence | | 10:00–13:00 | Polling/data on approval for political violence by ideology | | 15:00–20:00 | Left/right rhetoric, demonization and escalation | | 19:07–20:49 | Security requirements for right-wing figures | | 22:14–24:25 | "Both sides" argument vs. calling out clear patterns | | 27:10–30:00 | Omission of leftist violence from commonly cited violence statistics | | 31:50–36:11 | Proposed policy/rhetorical solutions to violence | | 38:20–44:50 | Ideological definitions and global context debates | | 57:28–69:21 | Faith, godlessness, and the root causes of political hatred | | 74:27–85:55 | Later conversations reaffirming and challenging central premise |

Participant Perspectives

• Christina (Guest, ~03:35): Open to discussion, moderate, works as a pastor and comic; agrees civil discourse is key.
• Madison (Guest, ~38:22): Skeptical of left/right binary, pushes for deeper philosophical definitions and global context.
• Andrew (Guest, ~54:26): Discusses religious roots of hatred/political violence, argues for Christian love & civil discourse but also supports self-defense.
• Chris (Guest, ~72:58): Acknowledges violence may skew left currently, but objects to divisive or blanket statements, urges relationship-building and broader context.

Memorable Moments

• [19:22]: A rare moment of common ground—both Crowder and Christina reveal themselves as comedians, bonding briefly over Dallas open mic culture.
• [63:41]: Crowder: “I’m willing to be a martyr. I don’t want to be.”
• [71:27]: Andrew asks if he can pray with Crowder on camera—Crowder agrees and vigilantly keeps an eye out for threats during the prayer.
• [80:08]: Crowder: "Do you realize that more people, more people at ICE facilities in the state of Texas have been killed by left wing violence in the last week than all of January 6th combined?"
• [84:35]: Crowder to his guest: “We can't [have these conversations] because we get killed. That's the point.”

Conclusion

In a tense, expansive episode, Crowder forcefully argues that the American left is presently far more supportive—and responsible—for political violence than the right. He supports his claims with polling, data, and contemporary examples while repeatedly contending that civil conversation is only possible for conservatives under substantial security threats, a practical sign of the climate's lopsided hostility.

Most guests offer nuanced or critical perspectives, objecting to blanket blame, calling for de-escalation and dialogue, or reframing the debate around root causes like social media radicalization or a loss of spirituality.

Despite a few points of consensus (definition of violence, necessity for civil discourse), the core disagreement over responsibility and the solution persists. The episode closes with Crowder pledging more "Change My Mind" events and seeking formal debates with university professors—hoping to prompt the level of institutional accountability he finds lacking.

For listeners/readers who want the substance without the polemic: this episode is a deep dive into how definitions, data, and rhetoric shape our views of “political violence” today, and vividly illustrates the difficulties in bridging America’s current ideological divides.