Podcast Summary: "Victor Davis Hanson: Biden Left Trump in a Lurch in Syria"

Podcast: Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
Host: Victor Davis Hanson (with Jack, co-host)
Date: December 16, 2025
Source: The Daily Signal

Overview

In this episode, Victor Davis Hanson provides historical and cultural analysis of current events, focusing on the consequences of U.S. foreign and domestic policy under the Biden administration, the escalation of anti-Semitic violence in the West, the interplay of immigration, multiculturalism, and campus politics, and the rise of anti-Israel rhetoric across the political spectrum. Hanson examines recent deadly attacks in Syria, Australia, and at Brown University, relating them to broader social and political shifts, and warns about declining deterrence and the erosion of Western values.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Loss of U.S. Deterrence in Syria

Timestamps: [00:00], [29:28]

• Hanson criticizes the Biden administration for what he sees as a failure to deter attacks on American troops in Syria:

  "For four years they staged over 130 attacks originating in Syria on American bases, security positions. And we didn't do much of anything." (VDH, 00:00)

• This lack of response, Hanson argues, emboldens hostile actors and puts American troops at risk, echoing failures of deterrence witnessed in Lebanon in the 1980s.
• He warns that if Donald Trump returns to power, he will need to reestablish the principle that attacks on Americans will have serious consequences:

  "If you're going to put Americans over there, then you have to tell their enemies, if you kill these people, we're going to make life very uncomfortable for you." (VDH, 00:46)

2. Anti-Semitic Violence & Campus Climate

Timestamps: [04:12] – [11:03], [37:38] – [42:18]

• Hanson discusses a recent shooting at Brown University, noting reports that Jewish students were targeted and the shooter may have spoken Arabic. [04:12]
• He links escalating anti-Semitic violence in the West—including the Australia Hanukkah massacre and U.S. campus hate—to broader trends:
  • Mass immigration, failures of assimilation, and the Democratic party's increasing sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
  • The DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) apparatus, which he claims has become a shield for radical Islamist ideologies:

    "...this very right wing, fascistic, radical Islamicism has glued itself on to and been accepted by the DEI project. And the result of it is that it's permissible now to push a Jew on campus." (VDH, 05:20)

• Institutional reluctance and incentives to address anti-Semitism (highlighting Harvard's leadership and faculty, as well as recent campus incidents).

3. Shifting Political Alliances and Rhetoric

Timestamps: [11:03] – [16:44]

• Hanson is critical of new trends on the right, alleging that figures like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and others are enabling anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, sometimes for financial motives.
• He describes a shift where these elements find “ideological brotherhood” with the radical left, particularly via anti-Israel sentiments.
• The rise of voices playing both sides of the street (mentioning “Gutter-based Al Jazeera”) and questioning why American influencers on the right are courting illiberal foreign powers.
• Memorable quote:

  "It's got such a predictable history. I don't know why these people keep doing it, except as you said, lucrative. But they should be called because now there is no [watchdog]." (VDH, 13:54)

4. Role of the Left in Crime and Gun Violence Debates

Timestamps: [22:30] – [26:11]

• Hanson rebuts Senator Chris Murphy's (D-CT) claims that Trump is responsible for rising violence, instead pinning leniency and failures in urban gun control on the left:

  "Nobody believes the right is soft on criminals that use guns. It’s the left." (VDH, 24:40)

• Details systemic issues: abandoned stop-and-frisk policies, critical race and legal theories resulting in bail reforms, and soft prosecutions.

5. Immigration, Assimilation, and Social Strain

Timestamps: [29:28] – [48:57]

• Hanson examines the integration crisis in both the U.S. and Australia, arguing that Western nations have opened their doors to groups with radically different values, and have failed to demand assimilation.
• Expresses frustration at the lack of gratitude shown by immigrants and at elite policymakers who bear none of the burdens of uncontrolled migration.
• Highlights welfare dependency and fraud in specific communities (notably Somali immigrants in Minnesota), referencing statements by local politicians like Tim Walz.
• Stresses the need for a major shift – similar to 1920s-era U.S. policies – to limit and better select immigrants, emphasizing self-sufficiency and willingness to assimilate.

6. Institutional Decay in Higher Education

Timestamps: [51:17] – [54:53]

• Hanson lambastes the Ivy League and elite universities for failing to prevent or punish extreme anti-Semitism, citing Columbia's own report admitting harassment and ostracization of Jewish students.
• He argues prestige no longer attaches to many of these institutions, especially outside technical fields, due to ideological monoculture and grade inflation.
• Quote:

  "Why are we still stuck on this idea that, 'Oh, I'm at Stanford, oh, I'm at Harvard, oh, I'm at Yale.' I've seen all these people. ... They’re not prestigious people." (VDH, 51:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On deterrence and ISIS attacks:

  "We lost deterrence in Syria during the Biden administration ... And we basically established this principle that if you want to kill an American, nothing's going to happen to you."
  (VDH, 00:00 / 29:28)

• On immigration and multicultural policy:

  "If you come to the country and you yell Allah Akbar and you try to kill Jews or threaten it, you're going to go home and no one like you is going to come back."
  (VDH, 47:48)

• Western weakness/civilizational crisis:

  "I've never met a more Eloi group than this generation. It's almost like they want to be harvested. Come and take me. … What is so hard to say?"
  (VDH, 46:55)

• Campus antisemitism:

  “Israeli students were publicly called murderers in class. Jewish students were told their people survived the Holocaust just to commit genocide…”
  (VDH quoting Columbia report, 49:29)

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [00:00] — U.S. deterrence failures in Syria.
• [04:12] — Analysis of Brown University shooting; campus antisemitism.
• [11:03] — Rise of anti-Israel conspiracy theories on the New Right.
• [22:30] — Gun violence narrative and left’s role in urban crime.
• [29:28] — U.S. military in Syria, and broader immigration/assimilation critique.
• [37:38] — Australia attack and comparison to U.S. situation.
• [46:55] — "The Eloi generation" — civilizational warning.
• [49:29] — Columbia anti-Semitism report and critique of higher education.

Conclusion & Tone

Throughout the episode, Hanson applies his characteristic blend of historical comparison and sharp polemic. His tone is both urgent and pessimistic, warning of deepening crises—from U.S. strategic vulnerability abroad, to the inability of Western liberal societies to maintain their core values in the face of mass migration, rising antisemitism, and campus radicalism. He is skeptical of elite institutions and critical of both left-wing and new-right coalitions that, in his view, enable the erosion of Western civilization and security.

This summary omits sponsor messages, intros, and outros to focus exclusively on substantive discussion.