My Experience at the New York Populist Summit
Young Americans are readier than ever before to change this country for the better.
I’m glad to have spent this past Saturday in Manhattan for the New York Populist Summit, an event put on by the American Populist Union and co-hosted by the New York Young Republican Club. I arrived after a three-hour-long drive with high expectations for the summit. I was met at the door by the APU’s president, David Carlson, who warmly welcomed me and appeared excited for the afternoon’s upcoming events. I’ve worked with David before to write an article for the APU’s publications page alongside the other editor of The National Populist. Ever since I began working with him, it’s been clear to me that he aims for the APU to be an organization of the utmost professionalism. It’s been made evident by the content the APU produces, the variety of its focuses in political outreach, and, of course, its events.
This summit was by no means an exception to that. Having reached the top of the stairs, David showed me into a room filled with young, enthusiastic supporters, all clearly supportive of the right-wing populist cause. This summit was the first of its kind I’ve attended, and my often-reserved personality made introducing myself to others seem at first like a daunting task. David encouraged me to move about the room and speak with other attendees, though, and he noted his hope that the summit would present a great opportunity for those at the event to network and support the movement’s cohesion.
At that point, I did begin to introduce myself and engage in conversation with other attendees. While I did not know most of them up to that point, a few did know who I was through The National Populist. Most of the attendees were young men in or near their early twenties, though the level of political experience among the group was greatly varied. Many attendees that I spoke with could name various organizations they had worked with, and some individuals in that group even spoke of specific victories they had achieved on their campuses and in their communities for our collective goals. Other attendees had much less political experience—in fact, this event was an absolute first for some. All of the attendees in this group, though, shared a desire to grow their involvement in any way they could.
After a while, the leaders of the APU announced that the afternoon’s speakers would soon take to the podium. The speakers, ranging from local New York-area candidates like Stefano Forte, to APU leaders, to major candidates like previous NYC mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa and (virtually appearing) New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani, all gave rousing and impactful speeches to the attentive audience. The speakers also were, as would be expected of populists, accessible, and they stayed to chat with attendees after all their speeches were finished. This article from the National Guardian Magazine contains great summaries of what the afternoon’s speakers said.
After the day’s speeches concluded, the summit’s attendees reflected on what they heard and began to say their goodbyes. Some began to depart for their trips home, though others lingered—mostly those who had purchased VIP tickets and planned on staying to celebrate the event’s success. With the main event having been completed, I congratulated David Carlson, as well as the APU’s chairman, Vince Dao, on having hosted an excellent summit. They eventually announced that all of the remaining attendees could join them for pizza, and we all got ready to leave the NYYRC.
Sunlight reflected off of New York’s towering skyscrapers as we exited the venue—a far cry from the severely stormy weather I had encountered on my way there. I couldn’t help but compare that change to what I hoped the APU and our movement overall would bring about for our country. Like that cleared storm, the American nation, too, has a great chance of survival if young, enthusiastic patriots show up to the front lines of the culture war and put in the effort necessary to effect change.
Those patriots have made their presence clear to the world.