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Owen Shroyer: The Generational Divide Over Epstein Files in Conservative Movement

Source: X (Twitter) Video - Owen Shroyer
Date: 2025-07-17
Author: Owen Shroyer (InfoWars Host, War Room)

Core Thesis: Generational Split on Corruption Exposure​

"So I continue to see this pushback on the Epstein files and those that are demanding their release. And I've noticed something that also happens to be a similar trend, a similar divide, a similar roadblock when it comes to the issue of Israel. And that's a generational roadblock, that's a generational wall."

Owen Shroyer identifies a fundamental generational divide within the conservative movement between younger activists demanding transparency and older establishment figures seeking to maintain the status quo.

The Two Conservative Camps​

Younger Conservatives: Corruption as Solvable Problem​

"younger right-wingers and conservatives like me believe that our government is corrupt. Not just our actual government, but the centralized institutions of power and influence are also corrupt"

Their Approach:

"we look at it through a more specific lens and we say, we think these power brokers in government and centralized institutions of power and influence and wealth, we think that there are blackmail operations over perverts, different types of perverts, and financial crimes"

The Epstein Connection:

"we believe that the Epstein client list, the Jeffrey Epstein story, is the thread that could unravel this whole thing"

Older Conservative Establishment: "Time to Move On"​

"Whereas the more old Republican Guard, Conservative Inc., boomer-type conservatives are saying it's time to move on, there's nothing to see here"

The Frustration:

"it's a little frustrating and confusing since we all agree the government is corrupt, we all agree these institutions are corrupt, we all agree America is going in the wrong direction. And so we just look at exposing the Epstein files and clients as just a move in the right direction to get these people off of our back"

The Power Dynamic Shift​

From Election Cycle Tools to Power Players​

"the older generations, the boomers, I'd say, if you want to put an age on it, maybe 50 and above, they just figured they could use the younger generations and people like myself in election cycles to get Republicans in office, and then they can just do what they normally do"

The Reality Check:

"Well, we're not just young kids anymore. We're not just in our 20s anymore. We're in our 30s, some of us in our 40s, we've come of age. And we do have a significant amount of influence. And we do have a very well versed understanding of the issues"

Rejecting Paternalistic Dismissal​

"they think they can just toss us aside like kids and say, Oh, no, it's time for the adults to get back to work. And we're sitting here and saying no, no, no, you the adults getting to work is what has put us in this problem"

Claiming Their Seat:

"We still get to have a say, we still get to have a seat at the table"

The Riley Gaines Example: Conservative Heroes Can't Be Controlled​

"specifically, it came to me when I saw them attacking Riley Gaines. Now, here's Riley Gaines, who took a courageous stand against men competing in women's sports, was completely embraced by all spectrums of the right wing, and turned into a conservative hero"

The Lesson:

"And so she has a seat at the table. Now, she has influence. Now, she has a following. Now, you can't just decide to bring her in, use her for an election cycle, and then cast her aside when she has other political opinions. That's not how this is going to work"

The Broader Pattern Across Issues​

Multiple Fronts of Resistance​

"And so you see this similar divide on the issue of foreign aid and Israel. And now on the issue of the Epstein files, the younger generations are trying to cure the ills and the evils that have been left upon us and left upon our country by the older generations"

Media Control Reality​

"We have control over the new media, and we're not going anywhere, and we're not going to be silent, and we're not going to be pushed around"

The Fundamental Contradiction​

Agreement on Problem, Disagreement on Solution​

"And I just don't understand why we all agree that there's all of this corruption everywhere. And then when it's time to actually do something about it, something significantly about it, it's the younger conservatives that are trying to push the ball forward"

The Establishment Response:

"And it's the same older conservative establishment that is saying, oh, no, not so fast, or, oh, no, we didn't mean that, or, oh, no, not like that"

The Core Question:

"It's like, do we want to solve the problems? Do we want to stop the corruption or not?"

Generational Mission Statement​

Breaking the Cycle​

"all the younger generations, I'm a millennial, I'm 36, all we're trying to say is, hey, you left us an extremely corrupt system, okay? Now we want to expose it and bring it to an end so that we don't leave the same system to our lineage"

The Counterproductive Resistance​

"And the fact that you're still trying to block us from doing this is only hurting the cause"

The Ultimatum​

Non-Negotiable Issues​

"So no, we're not going to stop talking about the Epstein files. And no, we're not going to stop talking about foreign aid and specifically Israel's influence over our foreign policy"

The Response to Pressure:

"And the more you tell us to, the louder we're going to get. And you can't push us away from the table. You can't push us out of the conversation anymore"

Key Strategic Insights​

  1. Generational Power Shift: Younger conservatives have moved from being election cycle tools to independent power brokers with their own platforms and influence

  2. Media Control: The new media landscape has shifted power away from traditional conservative gatekeepers to younger, more independent voices

  3. Issue Expansion: What started as single-issue activism (like Riley Gaines on trans sports) naturally expands to broader political positions that can't be controlled

  4. Corruption as Core Issue: Younger conservatives see corruption exposure (via Epstein files, foreign aid transparency) as the key to systemic change, while older establishment prefers managing rather than eliminating corruption

  5. Tactical Divergence: Establishment wants to use younger voices for electoral gains while controlling the agenda; younger voices want to use electoral success to advance transparency and reform

The Broader Implications​

Shroyer's analysis reveals a fundamental split in conservative strategy: whether corruption should be exposed and eliminated (younger view) or managed and contained (establishment view). This mirrors broader debates about whether the American system needs reform or revolution, and whether conservative success should maintain existing power structures or fundamentally alter them.

The Epstein files represent a test case for this philosophical divide - a concrete example where transparency could potentially expose the very power networks that establishment conservatives have learned to work within, while younger conservatives see such exposure as essential to genuine reform.