Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

Victor Davis Hanson: The 25th Anniversary of 9/11

September 11, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Victor Davis Hanson argues that the United States has not only failed to honor the memory of those killed but has actively embraced the ideological successors of the attackers. In a wide-ranging commentary recorded for his podcast, Hanson uses the anniversary to frame a broader indictment of American immigration policy, the leftward drift of the Democratic Party, and what he sees as a collapse of national gratitude and historical memory. The episode is less a commemoration than a diagnosis of a country he believes has been transformed from within.

The 9/11 Commemoration as a Mirror

Hanson opens by recalling the immediate aftermath of the attacks. He notes that al-Qaeda believed the U.S. would not retaliate and that the Arab world would rally to their cause—both predictions proved wrong. Under George W. Bush, there was no second attack of that magnitude, and the military response in Afghanistan and Iraq was, in Hanson’s view, initially effective. But the central shock of his reflection is not about the past. It is about the present.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:00) **25th Anniversary of 9/11: The Unimaginable Transformation** - Victor opens with a stark contrast between the unity after 9/11 and the political reality 25 years later.
  • 2 (06:41) **The Original Failure and Success of 9/11** - Victor recounts the pre-9/11 context of American inaction against terrorist attacks.
  • 3 (10:55) **The New America: Antagonists at the Commemoration** - Victor details the specific figures and events that symbolize the cultural and political shift since 9/11.
  • 4 (12:42) **The Immigration Engine of Political Change** - Victor explains the mechanism by which immigration has transformed the electorate and national memory.
  • 5 (15:47) **The Blue State Collapse: New York, Massachusetts, California** - Victor connects the 9/11 commemoration controversy to a broader pattern of dysfunction in Democratic-run states.
  • 6 (24:42) **The Lindsay Clancy Case: A Sickness in the Younger Generation** - Victor uses the murder trial to critique a broader cultural rot, particularly among young women.
  • 7 (30:34) **Canada's Self-Destructive War on the United States** - Victor analyzes Prime Minister Carney's trade war with the U.S., arguing it is a desperate act of political theater.

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Guests on this episode

Victor Davis Hanson

Show Notes

How did a city once attacked by Islamic terrorists elect an islamist mayor 25 years later?Victor Davis Hanson and Sami Winc explore the changing political ideologies from 2001 to 2026 in the context of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. They also discuss the shocking explanations of why the majority of Lindsey Clancy's jurors refused to believe she should be imprisoned for strangling her three children.

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Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

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