Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Bo French has ignited debate after declaring that young men are the key to reversing what he described as the “self-immolation” of Western civilization.

In a post on August 20, French quoted conservative icon Pat Buchanan and warned of cultural and demographic decline, arguing that younger men are uniquely positioned to resist it.

“The future for the West is certainly bleak, but I argue it is not too late for America. We can still reverse this trend. We can stop the self immolation. And you know what? Young men are the ones doing it now. Young men in America are the hope because they see all this for what it is, a suicide pact. They want no part of it. They want:

-Mass deportations (this is the moderate option)

-Rejection of NWO/communist/islamic influence

-Rejection of the destructive third world values

-A return to heritage American strength/morals/culutre

Not to say our future is certain, but there is room for optimism,” wrote French.

French’s remarks came as he quote-tweeted a video from another social media user of Buchanan lamenting the “death of the West.”

The message apparently resonated with some young males.

Will Tanner, co-founder of the American Tribune, responded with a famous photo of Buchanan alongside a line from the former presidential candidate: “In half a lifetime, many have seen their God dethroned, their heroes defiled, their culture polluted, their values assaulted, their country invaded, and themselves demonised as extremists and bigots for holding on to beliefs held for generations.”

The comments tie into a broader political moment in which young men have emerged as an influential voting bloc. Early exit polls and validated voter studies show men, particularly those under 50, shifted sharply toward Republicans in the 2024 presidential election, PBS reported in November 2024.

A Pew Research Center analysis found men supported Donald Trump by 12 percentage points over Kamala Harris, compared to a narrower divide in 2020. Trump also narrowly won men under 50, a group that had favored Joe Biden by 10 points four years earlier.

This trend has drawn national attention. NPR reported in November that “Democrats have a problem with young men,” with analysts suggesting that Trump’s appeal to younger men stemmed less from specific policies than from his persona as an “anti-hero” figure. Researchers also noted young men are lonelier than previous generations, more likely to be single, and less likely to attend college, leaving them open to messages promising strength and belonging.

Some of this relative isolation comes after slogans such as “the future is female” and movements like #MeToo swept through the private sector, the dating world, and academia in the 2010s and early 2020s.

However, some academics see Trump’s victory as a product of anti-woman sexism, not a reaction to left-wing rhetoric.

“There is a lot of latent sexism in the US electorate, male and female members alike,” Tammy Vigil, an associate professor of media science at the University of Boston, told Agence France-Presse.”Trump’s campaign gave people permission to indulge their worst impulses and embrace divisiveness of many sorts.”

Despite these sentiments, there is evidence that not all of Trump’s appeal was cathartic or symbolic. Numerous outlets have reported that while Kamala Harris’s team thought messaging on abortion could motivate female voters and drive a presidential victory, it turned out that this formula failed to woo male voters, especially those concerned with economic issues such as inflation.

Trump’s political allies have leaned into the demographic opening with young men. Trump’s Department of Labor has promoted apprenticeship and blue-collar job programs with imagery resembling New Deal–era murals, frequently depicting young, muscular men as the backbone of American renewal.

French indicates a perspective amongst some GOP leaders that there is value in elevating young men, not just as voters, but as a vanguard against what he sees as cultural decline.

“The war is still in front of us,” French wrote, “or it better be, because our death as a nation certainly is if we don’t fight it.”