Military historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson argued that Democrats are no longer operating as traditional Democrats, suggesting the party has taken on a more destructive, revolutionary character reminiscent of the Jacobins of the French Revolution, which ultimately paved the way for an authoritarian rise to power.
While the American Revolution is often described as a more conservative revolution that preserved elements of British legal and political tradition, the French Revolution saw revolutionaries going so far as to create a new calendar and discard long-standing institutions simply because they were associated with the old order they opposed. The outcome was not lasting liberty but political instability that ultimately culminated in dictatorship under Napoleon, rather than the freedom the revolutionaries claimed to seek.
That destructive path, as Davis Hanson put it, is quickly becoming that of modern Demcorats.
💥NEW VDH: “I don’t even think it’s a Democratic Party. I don’t think we should even use that term anymore. It’s a Jacobin party … the 1992 and 1996 platforms under Clinton would be called racist and fascist! … This isn’t Democrats. This is something COMPLETELY different.” pic.twitter.com/l9aG1Ly8jy
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) May 5, 2026
"I don't even think it's a democratic party. I don't think we should even use that term anymore. It's a Jacobin party," Davis Hanson said. "It's just like the French Jacobins. That was the revolutionary party that hijacked the French Revolution. It was run just like the Democratic Party by very wealthy people, the Robespierre brothers and some of the turncoat landowners, the aristocracy, and it was holistic. It was culturally 360 degrees. It wanted to rename the days of the week, the days of the month, the foundational day, year zero, just like the 1619 committee. It was an iconoclastic movement."
"They tore down statues and they wanted open marriage and all sorts of stuff. Just same thing," he said. "This Democratic Party, I've said that so many times. If you look at the 1992 and 1996 democratic platforms under Clinton, they would be called racist and fascist, you know. Teens that commit murder will be tried as an adult, secure borders, no illegal immigration, deportations, etc., etc., balanced budget. This isn't Democrats. This is something completely different."
Today’s Democratic Party has moved away from many of the principles that have traditionally defined the United States.
This shift is reflected in a growing tendency among some Democrats to emphasize the country’s historical flaws, particularly its founding era, as fundamentally unjust, which has led to broader skepticism about preserving its core ideals. And that has led them to embrace more and more extreme views.
For example, voices within the party have expressed views that appear more sympathetic to U.S. adversaries like Iran amid the current conflict, support proposals to defund the police, while taking "compassionate" approaches to crime that have only resulted in tragedy, increased crime rates, and in many major cities, out-of-control homelessness.
An even greater threat comes as the left is now elevating once-fringe radicals into mainstream views, normalizing people who were long confined to the extremes. Socialism has gained traction as Mamdani leads New York City, and other candidates supported by the Democratic socialists of America gain traction across the country. Hasan Piker's endorsements in Democratic races now carry weight despite his claim that America might have deserved 9/11, and calling his audience to violence against capitalists. Graham Platner, an open communist, Hamas supporter with a Nazi tattoo, has emerged as a viable Senate contender.
This signals not a political party that cares for the United States, but one that seeks to destroy it.
