Scott Jennings spoke at the 2026 Texas Policy Summit and laid out a stark view of the ideological battle lines, arguing that left-wing ideas push dependency while conservative values prize independence and faith.
Scott Jennings opened his keynote at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s 2026 Texas Policy Summit by cutting straight to the tension between two different worldviews. He framed the debate as one about who believes in individual success and who wants people to rely on political structures.
Jennings laid out several examples of what he sees as a leftward effort to reshape American culture, pointing to debates over gender, the role of religion, and criticism of the Founding. He also named conservative organizers who work to counter those narratives and to reach young Americans on campuses.
“Here’s something that you must understand about the left,” Jennings said. “They hate success. They hate it when people make it on their own. They hate it when you don’t need them.”
“Think about what they teach our kids. That America was founded on racism. That our country is rotten at its core. That capitalism is evil. That hard work is for suckers. That merit is a dirty word. That the nuclear family is oppressive, especially to women. That faith is for idiots and rubes for people who are from Kentucky and Texas,” he continued. “They run people for the United States Senate who think there are six genders. And that we can solve the climate crisis by taking away all of your bacon. Is it any wonder that Charlie spent his life on college campuses trying to reach young people? He saw what was happening.”
Jennings tied those cultural shifts to higher stakes, saying they reshape expectations and incentives for entire generations. He praised activists who pushed back and described a younger cohort being pulled in two directions by competing messages about work, family, and faith.
“I think when that shooter pulled the trigger and killed my friend in Utah, he thought he was ending a movement,” Jennings said. “He thought if he killed Charlie Kirk, he could kill what Charlie stood for. That the rest of us would get the message. That we would heed the warning. Silence yourselves, or we will do it for you. I think that’s what he thought. Certainly, what the people who cheered on the assassination thought. And make no mistake, there were thousands who cheered it on.”
“But in trying to silence one voice, I think they created thousands,” he said. “In trying to end a conversation that day, I think they started millions. And that is the thing we learned about faith and freedom. You can’t kill them. You can try to suppress it, and you can try to silence it. But it always finds a way. Like water finding cracks in a dam.”
Jennings used those moments to argue that conservative ideas tend to spread when challenged rather than when coddled, and he urged organizers to keep engaging wherever young people gather. He framed the response not as revenge but as persistence: keep the message about liberty, responsibility, and community front and center.
The speech landed as a call to maintain momentum in cultural institutions and on campuses, stressing that public debates matter and that abandoning those arenas cedes ground. Jennings left the summit with a clear line: defend the traditions that encourage independence, and keep contesting ideas that push dependency and despair.
