Aug 28, 2026 · 1h 27m
Hanson weighs Rubio’s 2028 case against America’s deeper fractures
Victor Davis Hanson: Is Marco Rubio the GOP’s Best Bet for 2028?
The episode links Republican succession, congressional oversight, Middle East diplomacy, classical literature, and civic decline through a single argument about institutional resilience.
- 1Hanson presents Marco Rubio as a potentially broader Republican standard-bearer after Trump, while weighing his appeal against J.D. Vance’s.
- 2The discussion treats congressional investigations, the Abraham Accords, and Saudi nuclear cooperation as tests of American power and accountability.
- 3Questions about Homer, Hesiod, and civic disorder become arguments for preserving cultural memory, personal responsibility, and social trust.
Don't miss
Hanson moves from the practical challenge of memorizing thousands of Homeric lines to the written stabilization of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
The brief
Jack Fowler’s listener-question format ranges from the Articles of Confederation and Republican succession to congressional investigations, Middle East diplomacy, and ancient Greek poetry.
Victor Davis Hanson sees Marco Rubio’s foreign-policy experience and broader electoral appeal as possible advantages over J.D. Vance, while framing the choice around the GOP’s post-Trump future.
The hosts examine Fauci’s diary, congressional immunity, the Abraham Accords, and proposed Saudi nuclear cooperation as competing questions of oversight, diplomacy, and executive power.
Hanson’s Homer discussion explains how oral-formulaic performance may have become written epic, then contrasts translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey with modern cinematic reinterpretation.
The closing argument is practical rather than abstract: civic order depends on ordinary responsibility, resistance to tribalism, and defending law, historical truth, and inherited institutions.
Books & mentions
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