Mobs, Messaging, and Midterms: What 2025 Revealed About The Left | 12.27.25

Summary

Morning Wire — “Mobs, Messaging, and Midterms: What 2025 Revealed About The Left”

Date: December 27, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley, Georgia Howe
Guest: Paul Kengor, Editor of The American Spectator

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Overview

This special edition of Morning Wire examines the seismic shifts in American politics during the first year of President Trump’s second term (2025) and looks ahead to the midterm elections in 2026. Hosts John Bickley and Georgia Howe are joined by Paul Kengor — author, editor of The American Spectator, and political science professor — to discuss the effectiveness of recent left-wing protest movements, the depth of political messaging, the ideological divides in both parties, and the continued influence of Ronald Reagan on the Republican Party.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The "No Kings" Movement and Left-Wing Activism

Timestamp: 02:19–06:15

• Effectiveness of Anti-Trump Demonstrations

  • Kengor finds the "No Kings" slogan and movement largely ineffective and “silly,” questioning the logic behind equating Trump with monarchy:

    “Obviously Donald Trump isn’t a king... Your response to that is, 'huh?' I mean who are they talking about?” (Paul Kengor, 03:27)

  • He points out that leftist protest slogans typically have broad, irrefutable appeal, unlike “No Kings,” which is obscure and arguably counterproductive.
  • Georgia Howe humorously suggests that, historically, some kings have been viewed positively, and that “No Hitlers would have been much better.” (04:24)

• Marketing and Messaging

  • Kengor analyzes slogans in social movements:

    “The first kind of thing you do in sloganeering and marketing, you come up with a clever kind of tested slogan, right? 'Black Lives Matter'—brilliant. 'Marriage Equality' from the LGBTQ people... but 'No Kings'? I mean, obviously the guy isn't a king." (Paul Kengor, 03:04)

  • The group agrees that fascination with royalty can actually have positive connotations in American culture, and question the strategic wisdom of the slogan.

2. The State of Political Organizing

Timestamp: 05:55–07:47

• Activist Culture on the Left

  • Kengor argues that leftists are “natural ideologues” and “natural agitators,” drawing on historical context and conversations with Ben Shapiro:

    “For the American left, they’re just doing what they always do... [they] are going to go out and act like leftists, which means they're going to go out and protest, often act like a mob.” (Paul Kengor, 06:26)

  • Quotes a monarchist thinker:

    “The mob is always a Nero. It’s never a Marcus Aurelius. Right. And that's what the left is good at. It's good at organizing mobs.” (Paul Kengor, 07:19)

• Democrats’ Organization for 2026

  • John Bickley asks if the left is better organized for the midterms; Kengor says their activism is part of their political DNA but questions if it translates into electoral advantage.

3. Ideology vs. Practicality in the Trump Era

Timestamp: 07:47–10:01

• Trump as a Non-Ideologue
  • Bickley and Kengor note that, unlike movement conservatives, Trump is not driven by ideology but by pragmatism and effectiveness:

    "Trump most definitely is not an ideologue... If there was any 'ism' for Trump, it might be nationalism, it might be patriotism, but it wouldn't be so much conservatism." (Paul Kengor, 08:16)

  • Kengor contrasts Trump’s improvisational approach to the Reagan-era ideological conservatism.

4. Midterms Outlook — Division and Headwinds

Timestamp: 09:38–11:30

• Republican Prospects for 2026

  • Kengor predicts that the Republican Party will lose seats in the midterms, as is typical for the party in presidential power:

    “You have to predict that they will lose seats. Right. I mean, they typically do... It's only a question of how much.” (Paul Kengor, 10:01)

  • He notes a wave of primary challenges from Democratic Socialists (DSA), suggesting the left wing is reshaping the Democratic Party internally.

• Democratic Socialists’ Influence

  • Kengor identifies prominent far-left victories—like in New York and Seattle—where DSA candidates are “fundamentally transforming” the Democratic Party from within.

5. Governing in a Divided Government

Timestamp: 11:31–12:56

• If Trump Loses the Majority

  • Howe asks what Trump could achieve legislatively if Republicans lose the House/Senate.
  • Kengor predicts a shift to executive orders and messaging since significant legislative progress would be blocked:

    “If Trump was a king, he’d be able to do all the things he wants to do... But a lot of this is really just, kind of, hot air by liberals and Democrats... for Trump, a lot of it might be messaging. Pushing ideas, but legislatively, probably not getting all that much done. Frankly, foreign policy could be a difference, as it always is.” (Paul Kengor, 11:41)

• Checks and Balances

  • Trump’s critics calling him a monarch are missing that the President’s power is circumscribed by Congress and the courts—an argument Kengor makes repeatedly.

6. Ronald Reagan’s Continued Influence

Timestamp: 12:56–15:07

• Reagan: The Enduring Standard-Bearer

  • Kengor notes the direct lineage between Reagan’s 1980 campaign slogan and the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan now identified with Trump:

    “What does MAGA stand for? Make America Great Again. That was actually Ronald Reagan’s slogan in 1980... I have a button in my office, someone gave me, with Reagan’s face: ‘Make America Great Again.’” (Paul Kengor, 13:21)

  • Reagan is still the model for Republican presidents; party events once called “Lincoln Day Dinners” are now typically known as “Reagan Day Dinners.”
  • Kengor is skeptical that Trump will someday eclipse Reagan in the GOP’s internal mythology.

• Cultural Relevance and Conservative Media

  • The importance and financial difficulty of telling conservative stories in film is discussed:

    “If I would just tell people here right now, support conservative filmmakers. Because it took us 20 years to make a movie about the icon of the conservative movement... When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, there were already three scripts ready in Hollywood, all fully funded.” (Paul Kengor, 15:07)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Paul Kengor on 'No Kings’:

  “No Kings? I mean, obviously the guy isn’t a king. So I thought the whole premise was really just kind of fatuous nonsense, right?” (03:18)

• Georgia Howe on Populist Sloganeering:

  “There’s positive connotations with a king. We want the return of the king. There’s fascination with the royal family in England for a reason.” (04:24)

• Kengor on Trump’s Ideology:

  “Trump is really kind of a common sense practitioner, businessman... If there was any ‘ism’ for Trump, it might be nationalism, it might be patriotism.” (08:16)

• On Left-Wing Protest Culture:

  “The one thing you can count on, as sure as the sun coming up tomorrow, is that American leftists are going to go out and act like leftists.” (06:24)

• Reagan’s Enduring Slogan:

  “Make America Great Again. That was actually Ronald Reagan’s slogan in 1980... That shows that it’s still Reagan’s impact, and Reagan is the standard bearer of the party.” (13:21)

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Critical Timestamps for Reference

• 02:19 — Paul Kengor critiques the effectiveness and logic of the “No Kings” movement.
• 06:15 — Discussion on organizational strengths and protest culture of the left.
• 08:16 — Contrast between Trump’s practical style and conservative ideology.
• 10:01 — Predictions for Republican losses in the 2026 midterms and left-wing influence inside the Democratic Party.
• 11:41 — Limits on executive power and the role of messaging should Trump lose legislative majorities.
• 13:21 — Analysis of Reagan’s influence on today’s GOP, especially through shared slogans.
• 15:07 — Challenges and importance of building conservative presence in media and culture.

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Final Thoughts

The episode offers a sharp, witty critique of left-wing protest strategies and deep analysis of ideological identities within U.S. parties. Kengor’s historical breadth and humor, paired with Howe and Bickley’s pointed questions, illuminate how protest, messaging, and myth-making shape the current American political landscape as Republicans head into a challenging midterm season. The show ultimately underscores the continued cultural and political relevance of Ronald Reagan in the GOP and the enduring tug-of-war between symbolism, messaging, and real-world governance.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

The first year of President Trump's second term was a tumultuous and politically contentious year that saw major wins for the president. But it also saw nationwide orchestrated protest movements against him, including no Kings rallies and Democratic socialist political campaigns focused on thwarting his presidency.

[John Bickley]

So with the dust settling from 2025 and 2026 dawning, where do the two parties stand now? In this episode, we sit down with Paul Cagor, author and editor of the American Spectator, to discuss the that question and more. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. This is a special edition of Morning Wire.

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[Georgia Howe]

A look back politically at 2025 and a look ahead to 2026 is Paul Cagor, editor of the American Spectator and political science professor at Grove City College, where he's also the senior director of the Institute of Faith and Freedom. Paul, you need more titles? Thank you so much for joining us.

[Paul Kangor]

Yeah, good to be with you, John. Love. Anything I can do with the Daily Wire anytime, I'm all in.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, we love hearing that and we'll hold you to that. So, look, this has been a crazy year. We wanted to kind of stop and look back at it polit politically, specifically the no Kings movement and some of the anti Trump efforts that we saw over the course of the year. Big picture. First, how effective do you think the demonstrations, the activism against Trump were this year? Did they actually work?

[Paul Kangor]

Well, I mean, it's hard to judge that, right? I mean, they did, you know, the left did do well in the elections. They put a lot of people out in the streets throughout the summer through the no Kings rallies. So if the, you know, to use an old Soviet word, agitprop, agitation and Propaganda. If the idea was to agitate with their propaganda, they did. And I would call the no kings kind of a perfect example of agitation and propaganda, especially propaganda, because the whole thing was just, I thought, frankly, silly. And the first time, John, that I even heard the idea or the phrase no kings is from my wife, and I said, no kings, no kings. I said, are they talking about Trump? She said, yeah, they're talking about Trump. Who else, right? And I thought, yeah, but I mean, of all things, why don't they dogo with their old thing, right? No dictators, no fascists, no democracy destroyers or whatever, but no kings. It's, like, patently ludicrous on its face. Everybody knows that Trump is not a monarch, right? I mean, the first kind of thing you do in sloganeering and marketing, you come up with a clever kind of tested slogan, right? Black Lives Matter. Brilliant. No matter what you think of the organization, who could argue with Black Lives Matter, right? Marriage equality from the LGBTQ people, right? Even an old group like the 1930s, 1940s communist front group, the American League Against War and Fascism, right? Who isn't against war and fascism, but no kings. I mean, you immediately your response to that is, huh? I mean, who are they talking about? I mean, obviously, Donald Trump isn't a king. You could debate whether he's destroying democracy. You could call him a racist, a bigot, a narcissist, braying jackass, whatever you want to call them, right? More subjective terms, but no kings. I mean, obviously the guy isn't a king. So I thought the whole premise was really just kind of fatuous nonsense, right?

[Georgia Howe]

And there's positive connotations with a king. We want the return of the king. There's fascination with the royal family in England for a reason. People actually kind of like this. No, Hitlers would have been much better.

[Paul Kangor]

Yeah, well, you're making a great point. I mean, actually, there are. I mean, historically, there have been good kings and bad kings, right? And they're probably, in fact, to really do. If you wanted to do a deep dive on this. I teach political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. And the most common form of government in the history of humanity has been monarchy. You know, that all changes with World War I to make the world safe for democracy. Monarchy was the governing type of government even in Europe until 1914. So there have been good kings, there have been bad kings. I mean, look at this will be real easy for Americans. St. Louis, right? St. Louis. I mean, that king, the Louis, not the bad Louis XIV or Louis XVI. L'tat c' est moi. In the 1700s, the time of the French Revolution, but in the 1200s, that King Louis was a saint canonized by the Catholic Church. So there have been good.

[Georgia Howe]

I'm not sure if that'll fly.

[Paul Kangor]

Yeah. Saint Trump, even in Britain right now. Right. Kate. And forget which one she's married to. But they're popular, right? They're popular.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, it's not Harry. It's the other guy.

[Paul Kangor]

It's the other guy. That's right. It's not Harry and Megan.

[John Bickley]

All right, so in terms of marketing strategy, maybe not a great move, but.

[Georgia Howe]

They were very active, they were organized.

[John Bickley]

Does it seem like the left and Democrats have become better organized over the course of the last year or not? There's always been a sense that they do have a high level of activism and organization. Are they in a better position going into 2026 than they were in 2024 and 2025?

[Paul Kangor]

Well, I think they're just natural activists. Right. They're natural ideologues. They're natural agitators. In fact, Ben Shapiro and I talked about this the last time we spoke. We were talking about Russell Kirk, the conservative mind and conservatism. And Russell Kirk famously said that conservatism should not be called an ideology, it's more an attitude. Right. The idea of, like, an enduring moral order. Whereas ideology is for ideologues. And ideologues are on the left. Right. So when you think of ideology and ideologues, you think of the French Revolution, you think of radical progressives. And so for the American left, they're just doing what they always do. And so in a way, no Kings was just the latest manifestation of whatever slogan or protest movement they wanted to come up with. I thought a silly one, but. Yeah. So you could. The one thing you can count on as sure as the sun coming up tomorrow, is that American leftists are going to go out and act like leftists, which means they're going to go out and protest, often act like a mob. Who was it? The famous monarchist Erich von Kunholt? Leden said something like, this is why he was pro monarchy and anti democracy. And he said the mob is never a Nero. No, the mob is always a Nero. It's never a Marcus Aurelius. Right. And that's what the left is good at. It's good at organizing mobs.

[John Bickley]

The ideologue discussion is interesting to me. And actually, speaking of Ben Shapiro, he makes this point a lot, that Trump is a common sense, practical Sort of real world president. He operates in the real world, not in terms of ideology. And he pivots very frequently when the results don't show that his actions are working like he thought they would. And conservatism should also be grounded in reality. Correct. So is that the counter to this sort of ideologue approach of activism, pointing to practical results?

[Paul Kangor]

Yeah. In fact, you're making a great point, because Trump most definitely is not an ideologue. Right?

[John Bickley]

Probably not.

[Paul Kangor]

And Trump doesn't follow really a specific ideology. And, you know, other conservatives like Robert Nisbett have said, well, Kirk, you're overdoing it. Right. Conservatism is an ideology. Right. We get what you mean about ideologies for ideologues. And ideologues are unloved. All right, we got it. But it's about a system of ideas. So you would really call it a modern political ideology. And in that sense, Reagan a conservative in terms of ideology. But Donald Trump is kind of outside of ideology. Right. He actually brags about not reading much. I don't know that he reads National Review. He probably doesn't read National Review at all. I think he reads our magazine, the American Spectator every now and then. But I doubt he's read the Conservative Mind by Kirk or a book like that. Trump is really kind of a common sense practitioner, businessman who, I don't know what his IQ is. You can tell it's a high level of intelligence, a high level of energy. The founder of the American Spectator, RM material junior always says, what is Trump? Trump is somebody who first and foremost loves America. Right. If there was any ism for Trump, it might be nationalism, it might be patriotism, but it wouldn't be so much.

[John Bickley]

Conservatism to maybe put a button on this. And then, actually, I wanted to talk to you about Reagan, since you brought him up. In terms of the state of politics for the Republicans going into 2026, do you feel they're in a healthy position or are they divided? Are they facing a lot of headwinds coming into this next year? Midterms are always really tough for the party in power. What do you expect to see from Republicans?

[Paul Kangor]

Well, you have to predict that they will lose seats. Right. I mean, they typically do. And so I would expect that. So it's probably only going to be a matter of how many seats. But on the other hand, you know, the. The American left is not popular. The Democrats are not popular. In fact, even within the Democratic Party, the biggest defeats that the Democrats have had in the last few Months have been at the hands of Democratic socialists. Someone like Azoran Mamdani in New York, the woman who won the mayoral seat in Seattle. Is it Katie Wilson, I think might be the name. They are challenging Karen Bass, the Democrat mayor in Los Angeles. So these are people coming from the far left. They're not Democrats. Right. They are Democratic Socialists. They are dsa. They are the Democratic Socialists of America, which if you go to the DSA's website, calls itself the largest socialist organization in the United States. They're running as Democrats to transform an Obama term. Right. Fundamentally transform the Democratic Party from within. So they've been successful lately, maybe even more so than the Democrats in that sense. The kind of farther left. But I'm getting a little bit off subject from your question. I would expect the Republicans in the midterm to lose seats, because that's just simply what happens in midterms for the party in the. In the presidency. It's only a question of how much. And we'll have to wait and see.

[John Bickley]

Yeah.

[Georgia Howe]

Do you expect Trump, if he loses a majority, what would the second part of his final term look like? Would that be all messaging? Is it all executive orders, fighting with the courts?

[Paul Kangor]

A lot. Yeah. A lot of it might be messaging. And in fact, this circles back to our original point about no kings. Trump can't even the Department of Education. Right. Because Congress has veto power. If Trump was a king, he'd be able to do all the things that he wants to do. And when you're talking about executive orders, I mean, no one did executive orders like fdr. I mean, you could have probably thrown the term King FDR more at FDR than you could have at Donald Trump. Woodrow Wilson, LBJ. Yeah. These guysJoe Biden. Right. Obama. These guys were masters of the economy. Executive order. So a lot of this is really just kind of hot air by liberals and Democrats. But for Trump, yeah, a lot of it might be messaging. Pushing an idea, pushing ideas, but legislatively, probably not getting all that much done. Frankly, foreign policy could be a difference, as it always is, which is one of the reasons for one of his great successes so far has been the Abraham Accords, because that's something he was able to do on his own with his staff and without King Trump. Trump's approval of his National Assembly.

[Georgia Howe]

Final question. You've written a lot on Reagan, and Trump himself has talked about the comparisons between himself and Reagan. Every Republican president has put up against Reagan at some point as sort of a standard of excellence for the Republican Party. How do you believe the brand of Reagan stands now. This used to be Reagan's party. Does he still have a presence that's powerful and effective in this party in terms of inspiring people?

[Paul Kangor]

Well, I would say you could look at the enduring impact. What do we call Trump's movement? The MAGA movement. What does MAGA stand for? Make America Great Again. That was actually Ronald Reagan's slogan in 1980. In fact, I recently went back and was looking through my book, the Crusader on Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, because it was the basis of the Reagan movie starring Dennis Quaid. And so I went back. I'd written that book 20 years ago, and I went back, John, just to try to kind of familiarize myself, because I was going to be doing interviews. And I think part two of the book is called America Great Again. And I thought, geesh, that's exactly right. That was Reagan's slogan. I actually have a button, a campaign button in my office. Someone gave me with Reagan's face, Make America Great Again. So that shows that it's still Reagan's impact, and Reagan is the standard bearer of the party. Look, you and I are probably old enough to remember Republican parties around the country, in different states, localities, counties, they hold Lincoln Day Dinners. They now call most of those Reagan Day Dinners. And I don't think they'll be calling them nothing against Trump, but Trump Day Dinners. And Reagan was reelected by winning 49 out of 50 states, the electoral college, 525 to 13 twice. Won new York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, even Massachusetts twice. So I think Reagan's still the standard.

[Georgia Howe]

And I've seen the left, their attempts to tear down this myth. I remember a book titled that about Reagan. They've failed to do so. And he continues to be very powerful. And the film that was based off your book, it's an excellent film. We love Quaid. We love that production. It was great to see that having a lot of cultural relevance now and the ability to make movies like that now, which we hadn't seen for decades.

[Paul Kangor]

Well, it's hard. I mean, it's hard to raise the money. Yeah, it's hard to raise the money. And in fact, if I would just tell people here right now, support conservative filmmakers. Because it took us 20 years to make a movie about the icon of the conservative movement, about this American icon of the Republican Party. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, there were already three scripts ready in Hollywood, all fully funded. All right, we need to support conservative filmmakers. And I think that's something Daily Wire has been doing, and it's very, very important.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, we appreciate that. Shout out. And yeah, it's something we do for sure find very important and central to our business. Paul, thank you so much for joining us. Just a total delight to talk to you.

[Paul Kangor]

Same here, John. Anytime, give me a call. Happy to come back.

[Georgia Howe]

That was Paul Kangor, editor of the American Spectator and professor of political science at Grove City College. This has been a special edition of Morning Wire.

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