2025 will always hold a painful place in this country’s memory. Trump came back into office, signed multiple peace deals, and effectively closed illegal immigration at the southern border. No one is going to remember 2025 for those things.
They will remember 2025 as the year Charlie Kirk died. It was the year that churches were a little extra full on the second Sunday in September. It was the year that someone many people loved dearly was ripped away from them in a cruel, heartless act. 2025 was the year that many people realized that their conservative beliefs could put their lives at risk.
We’re learning how to move forward in the wake of tragedy. The process has been painful, with conservative infighting, conspiracy theories, and “doomers” hijacking any attempts at conversation. Although America Fest was a positive experience for most people, certain influencers used their stage time to bash others. For a people seeking the leadership they lost in Charlie Kirk, seeing such childishness at the very same festival Kirk founded was wearisome.
But 2025 isn’t going to be capped off by X drama and eye-roll inducing America Fest speeches. Furthermore, Kirk’s death does not have to be the inciting incident that causes the conservative movement to fall to shambles.
In the final few days of 2025, a 23-year-old Youtuber and independent journalist went on a mission to expose potential social service fraud in Minnesota. Nick Shirley did what every major media outlet refused to do, and during the course of his 42 minute long video, he personally confronted businesses he suspected of fraud. In the video, he exposed at least $110 million in government-funded fraud and alleged that the total amount of fraud may be around $9 billion. A majority of these “social service businesses” accused of pilfering money are run by the state’s large Somali population.
In the two days after the video was uploaded, it received over 90 million views. Shirley has received praise from countless people, everyone from Minnesota residents who feel betrayed up to the Vice President.
The fraud exposure is doubtlessly a win for conservatives. It proves that mass immigration, unchecked social service programs, and lousy leaders like Tim Walz are a recipe for a multi-billion dollar disaster. It shows that liberal ideology preys on hardworking Americans and their tax dollars. It represents how Allie Beth Stuckey’s concept of “toxic empathy” works against well-meaning citizens.
Shirley’s work also proves that the success of conservatism necessarily lies in the hands of young people.
One of the things that made Donald Trump and the MAGA movement so successful was its willingness to be new, hip, and fresh. The Republican candidates who ran prior to Trump, like Romney and McCain, worked their way up through the GOP infrastructure over decades. Voters were familiar with them and their talking points. In the 2000s and 2010s, as Obama merged politics with pop culture, the traditional Republicans felt out of touch. Trump broke the mold by being funny, quick, and sometimes a bit abrasive.
Young people were drawn to Trump like a moth to flame. Those same young people are going to carry on his legacy when he’s out of office. They’re going to be investigative reporters, like Nick Shirley. They’re going to be skilled debaters, like Charlie Kirk. They’re going to be creative film makers, like Matt Walsh. They’re going to be artists, comedians, actors, and writers. They’re going to be scientists, mathematicians, doctors, biologists, and engineers. They’re going to be mothers, fathers, small business owners, pastors, bakers, builders, electricians, carpenters, and teachers.
In 2025, Charlie Kirk’s assassination showed young people that a man just over the age of thirty could change everything. He could build a political movement, help elect a President, and change the hearts and minds of thousands, one person at a time. The old conservative leaders are crucially important. They need to adopt roles as mentors. If they want the movement to survive, they need to foster and encourage young conservatives who are hungry for truth and full of energy.
In 2026, conservatism will be lifted up by an entire generation of young people.
In 2026, those young people are going to fight for liberty, justice, and Christianity just like they did in 1776.
