534 | Jon Askonas: The Rise of the Tech Right - Smartphones, Porn, DOGE vs. USAID, and the New Trump Coalition

The Realignment

Technology, News Commentary, National Security, Marshall Kosloff, International Relations, News, Public Policy, Economics, Politics, Saager Enjeti, U.s. Politics, Policy

4.8 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jon Askonas, FAI Senior Fellow & Assistant Professor, joins The Realignment. Jon and Marshall discuss the right's new technology agenda, the relationship between the family and technology, President Trump's MAGA, MAHA, Tech Right, and conservative coalition, DOGE vs. USAID, and the impact of Silicon Valley's rightward turn on the conservative movement.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're here. Welcome back to the realignment. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the show. I just got back from parental leave, so I'm super psyched to be back at the mic to put out these great episodes for everyone. For today's episode, I'm covering one of the most relevant topics at the start of the second Trump presidency, that topic being the state of the American right and its
0:22.3	relationship to technology and the tech industry. My guest is John Askinus, a senior fellow at the
0:28.8	Foundation for American Innovation, and a professor at Catholic University of America. John has spent
0:34.5	a lot of time thinking about the relationship between the right and technology,
0:38.4	and he is one of the organizers and signers of a broad statement put out by members of the
0:43.2	American right, put out at First Things magazine. You could find it online linked in the show notes.
0:48.4	It's called A Future for the Family, a new technology agenda for the right. He also wrote a piece
0:53.8	in national affairs about this topic
0:56.0	as well as it's linked in the show notes. I think at the start of the second Trump presidency,
0:59.7	the question of how the rights coalition actually operates. You have the MAGA wing, you have the
1:05.2	traditional social conservatives, and of course you have the Make America Healthy Again, RFK movement,
1:13.7	and the tech right embodied by Elon Musk.
1:22.2	How all these different coalitional factions function together is going to really determine whether or not Trump's second presidency is a success or not.
1:28.1	Given the fact that Vice President J.D. Vance is at the center of all these movements, we can also see that this is also going to play a role in the 2028 election and beyond. So I hope you all enjoy this
1:33.4	conversation as we try to better understand the ever-shifting realignment of the American
1:38.0	right during this early part of the 21st century. Huge thank you to the Foundation for American
1:43.8	Innovation for supporting the work of this
1:45.2	podcast.
1:47.0	John Askinis, welcome to The Realignment.
1:50.5	Thanks for having me, Marshall.
1:52.3	This is probably the best timed episode I've ever recorded because we're here to talk
1:58.4	about the American family, the right and technology about a week
	...

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