Profile by Summer Lane |
Brilyn Hollyhand was just 11 years old when he became involved in American politics, and since then, he has continued to prove that one’s youth should never hold anyone back from being involved in the civic process.
“I was a history nerd far before I was a political nerd,” Hollyhand told Write Revolution News.
His appreciation for the wisdom and treasures of yesteryear paved the way for his interest at a young age in the political system. He pointed to his love of collecting antiques and old American history memorabilia, which sparked a long-term fascination with civics.
“Because of that I started studying, like, American presidents….for sure, history was where it kind of all started,” he said.
Hollyhand is unlike any other Republican activist you’ll meet. He turned 18 this year, and it will be his first time voting in a presidential election. He’s written an Amazon bestselling book, One Generation Away: Why Now Is the Time To Restore American Freedom, and he has toured the country this year talking to college students about Republican values and civic involvement in his “Get Off the Sidelines Tour.”
He is also the host of The Brilyn Hollyhand Show and the chair of the RNC Youth Advisory Council.
His book – which was released earlier this year – is not an attack on Gen Z, he explained, but rather, a call to action. He said that the younger generation has “vented their frustrations” with American societal and political problems by grabbing bullhorns or “dying their hair blue,” but they’ve failed to accomplish “anything effective to actually change the problems in our country.”
“It’s up to US to fix it,” he said.
One Generation Away is heavily inspired by the Republican leadership and politics of President Ronald Reagan, and it introduces both a historical and logical argument for civic involvement to young voters who may feel less than enthused about getting involved in modern politics.
“My book is leaning on Reagan, who leaned on the Founding Fathers and the [Founding] Fathers leaned on God the father and the Creator,” Hollyhand said.
He described “faith, family, and freedom” as the three special ingredients needed to elevate the nation, referring to them facetiously as “the three F words” that formed the “founding cornerstone of America.”
At just 18, Hollyhand is uniquely attuned to what Gen Z voters are feeling in the 2024 election – and what they want in a presidential candidate.
How involved will the up-and-coming generation be when it comes to affecting the Election Day showdown between President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris?
“I think we’ll be super involved,” Hollyhand said.
With boots on the ground on college campuses nationwide, the young Republican dynamo says his speeches are packed out with college students who are interested in learning more about what’s going on this country and, possibly, how to turn the failing state of the nation around.
“I think that the average Gen Z American is being overlooked,” he explained, referring to the sprawling abundance of political polling attempting to project who has the best chance of winning the presidential election.
“The pollsters are overlooking those voters,” he said.
Hollyhand emphasized the amount of disproportionate attention the “super loud members of Gen Z” get on college campuses – the kind of political rabble-rousers, perhaps, who protest and hold up traffic for hours on freeways.
“They don’t represent the thousands of other students that are in the background of campuses,” he said.
Hollyhand is on to something big.
In the often-blue state of Michigan, for example, New York Times/Siena College polling found in early October that President Trump had closed a 24-point gap with voters ages 18-29 from 2020 to 2024.
This is no small feat. It shows just how hungry young voters are for change.
Turning Point USA President Charlie Kirk explained it well during a September segment of his show on Real America’s Voice:
“They know that they are currently inheriting a nation that is not on par or nearly as wealthy as powerful as their parents’. They know that the social contract has been broken….they know that they might be drafted into the military for World War III. They know they’re not going to be able to own homes under Kamala Harris, which is true. They know that they can’t even afford groceries. And they’re wondering, ‘Why is it that my parents were able to have a normal, simple American life?’”
This frustration is all-too real for many young Americans, and it may prove to be an integral driving factor toward the Republican Party in this election.
But for those who may feel unmotivated to cast their vote this year, Hollyhand has some words of advice.
“Our forefathers and our nation’s heroes fought for our right to be able to vote and this isn’t something that we should be taking for granted,” he said.
And when it comes to a potential Republican victory in 2024, he recognizes the sometimes frustrating political process that tends to stymie forward progress.
In One Generation Away, he astutely writes, “The Republican Party has a reputation for being old and slow, especially when considering party platforms and policies; I’ve often referred to the Grand Old Party as a slow-moving freight train trying to drive through tar. And maybe this has contributed to why we haven’t won an election cycle since 2016. But right now, it seems we are moving in the right direction, at least with the younger generation who are the future of America.”
The outcome of Election Day this year may truly come down to the integral new voting bloc of Gen Z voters who are exhausted, broke, and rightfully afraid of being sent to foreign lands to fight global wars they want nothing to do with.
“Our generation needs to get off the sidelines, get off the couch, put the TV remote down…[and] actually partake in civic engagement by voting!” Hollyhand said.
Voting is the truest and most sacred power Americans have, and Hollyhand is proudly encouraging youngsters to vote Republican on the ballot, but what he really wants to see, more than anything, is interest in the civic process.
“You need to be voting because it’s your right as a citizen in this great country,” he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Brilyn Hollyhand
Visit Brilyn Hollyhand’s website and order his book HERE.
Follow him on X.
Check out his speaking schedule HERE.
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