Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Conservative Icon David Horowitz Passes Away At Age 86

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Author and conservative icon David Horowitz has passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86.

He had been battling cancer for a long time before his passing and is survived by his wife April and four children.

David Horowitz was best-known for his book Radical Son and the speeches he gave on college campuses.

He also founded the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

His X account announced his passing:

Breitbart provided an overview of Horowitz’s life:

Born in Forest Hills, New York, Horowitz’s political life began relatively early due to his parents’ membership in the  Communist Party USA. In his book Radical Son, Horowitz said his parents, both schoolteachers, fancied themselves as “secret agents” dedicated to advancing the cause of socialism at whatever cost.

“Underneath the ordinary surfaces of their lives, my parents and their friends thought of themselves as secret agents,” he wrote. “Even if we never encountered a Soviet agent or engaged in a single illegal act, each of us knew that our commitment to socialism implied the obligation to commit treason, too.”

Horowitz would later become a leader in the 1960s New Left with affiliations in the Black Panther Party and other radical groups. In the early 1960s, he resided in London for several years after completing his graduate degree before moving back to the United States in 1968 to become the co-editor of Ramparts magazine, a radical leftist publication. In the 1970s, he began working with the Black Panther Party, forming a friendly relationship with the group’s co-founder, Huey P. Newton. His transition into the American right began in 1974 with the murder of his friend, Betty Van Patter, who was found dead on a beach near San Francisco. Horowitz had introduced Van Patter to the Black Panthers and was convinced members of the group committed her murder. He severed all ties to the New Left as a result.

In the 1980s, he announced his vote for Ronald Reagan and continued his support for American conservatism until the eventual founding of his organization, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, in 1998.

Over the decades, and especially after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Horowitz positioned himself as a strong advocate against radical Islam and regularly spoke out against antisemitism on college campuses. In one particularly harrowing exchange at UC San Diego in 2010 that has since become a viral sensation, Horowitz addressed a Muslim student as she expressed support for the extermination of Jews worldwide.

Many folks on social media are paying tribute to Horowitz’s legacy.

Here are some of the best ones:

David Horowitz @horowitz39 has passed away at age 86 after a battle with cancer.
Very sad to hear this.
My career got started after I was given tickets to attend the David Horowitz Freedom Center Conference in West Palm Beach, FL when I was a junior in college.
That’s where I met @JamesOKeefeIII, which led to me working for Project Veritas and becoming who I am today as an investigative journalist.
I would not be where I am today and probably never would have met James O’Keefe if it were not for David Horowitz’s Freedom Center and the opportunity that was given to me to attend his events when I was a broke but highly ambitious college student and the President of College Republicans in Miami, Florida.
RIP @horowitz39

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who was mentored by David Horowitz, thanked him for all he did:

I’m very sad to hear this news. David and I first met at Dartmouth where I was a young campus activist and he was one of our invited speakers. We became friends and he asked me to write a chapter in his book, Second Thoughts on the 60s.

Decades later, the Berkeley College Republicans invited him to speak on campus, Berkeley wouldn’t let him, and I sued Berkeley over it and won. We maintained a legal and personal relationship after that for years. David was a true original, a man unafraid of the woke mob and deeply committed to freedom of thought and speech.

May he rest in peace.

Charlie Kirk wrote this lengthy, inspiring tribute:

Rest in peace to my friend and mentor David Horowitz, who has just passed away. A fearless truth-teller, David was a titan in the battle of ideas and a warrior for Western civilization.
David grew up on the hard Left and remained a committed Marxist into his 30s. But he had the rare courage to question everything, and ultimately reject the radicalism of his youth to become one of the most influential conservative thinkers of our time.
Without David Horowitz, I’m not sure Turning Point USA would exist. David was a lifelong crusader and maverick for the conservative cause. A former communist turned fierce anti-left advocate, he dedicated his life to confronting the ideologies he once embraced.
Over 90% of our earliest major donors were introduced at a David Horowitz event—thanks to his warm endorsements and generous introductions. His support opened doors that would have otherwise remained closed.
David always believed in me and in Turning Point USA. He saw our campus movement as a rebirth of freedom—the kind of revival he long hoped to see. We spoke often by phone, and he remained a trusted teacher and mentor throughout my journey.
David understood the Left—not just its surface slogans, but its underlying motivations, its tactics, and most importantly, how to effectively confront and defeat it. His life was a testament to courage, intellectual clarity, and unwavering moral conviction. He showed that truth—once found—demands action, no matter the personal cost.
His David Horowitz Freedom Center was a launchpad for so many voices on the Right—including mine. In 2014, he invited me to speak at his Restoration Weekend, one of the first big breaks of my career. He believed in young leaders long before the world did.
Twenty-five years ago, David mentored a high school student named Stephen Miller. He supported him through Duke, through the Senate, and into the Trump White House. Today, Stephen is one of the most impactful architects of America First immigration policy. A legend thanks to David’s mentorship.
As Politico wrote, “If you want to understand the immigration policies [Trump] has put into place, you have to also understand Horowitz.” David’s fingerprints are all over the populist revival of the last decade.
David saw the Left clearly—and early. His books Indoctrination U and One Party Classroom were prophetic, exposing the rot on college campuses years before most conservatives dared to speak up. They helped inspire my own book The College Scam and much of Turning Point USA’s campus strategy.
But David didn’t just write. He debated. He showed up. He walked into hostile auditoriums and faced down Marxist professors, Islamist apologists, and race hustlers—armed only with truth, moral clarity, and a sharp tongue.
Back in 1999, David called out the Left’s weaponization of civil rights and its growing hatred of white people—a topic so radioactive that most conservatives avoided it for two more decades. He said what others were afraid to even whisper.
He published over 50 books, debated thousands, mentored dozens, and shaped the ideological terrain we now fight on. His final book was published in 2023—at the age of 84. He worked until his last breath.
David Horowitz was a lion. A fighter. A father of modern conservatism. He was a teacher to me, a mentor, and a friend. Turning Point USA will continue its successful movement in your honor, and thanks to your help. We miss you David, god bless you. Thank you
Rest in Peace, David.
You will be remembered.🇺🇸
What do you think?

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.


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