Munk Debate on the Rise of Populism

In the bi-annual Munk Debate, former Trump administration chief strategist Steve Bannon and former George W. Bush administration speechwriter David Frum debated this motion: “Be it resolved, the future of western politics is populist not liberal.” Rudyard Griffiths Munk Debate director, moderated the event. The start of the debate was delayed by protesters outside the building, and one protester was removed for disrupting Mr. Bannon’s opening remarks.

Note: At the end of the program, the results from the second audience vote from the start of the evening measuring whether people were open to changing their minds showed that 57 percent of those voting were open to Mr. Bannon’s pro-populism argument. However, due to a technical error these results were incorrect. In fact, the final official audience vote on the resolution was 28 percent in favor and 72 percent opposed, the same percentages as before the debate. The debate, therefore, was a draw. close