Brilyn Hollyhand (born June 16, 2006) is an American political activist. A member of the Republican Party, Hollyhand served as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council from May 2023 to September 2025.
Hollyhand established a political online-newspaper, The Truth Gazette, in July 2016. Through the Gazette, he became involved in politics, particularly in the affairs of the Republican Party. Hollyhand conducted interviews with local and national political figures. In May 2023, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel appointed Hollyhand as a co-chair of the committee's youth advisory council. After the assassination of the political activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025, he embarked on a tour of college campuses.
Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Hollyhand began developing an interest in politics and political news coverage.[3] In July 2016, he founded The Truth Gazette, a political online-newspaper.[7] In June 2017, Hollyhand established an email newsletter discussing national and Alabama politics.[3] In April 2018, he served as a one-day Alabama Senate page for Gerald Allen and led the Senate in the Pledge of Allegiance.[8] Hollyhand interviewed the state's attorney general, Steve Marshall; its secretary of state, John Merrill; and Allen that day;[8] by July, he had interviewed including U.S. representative Robert Aderholt and Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox.[3] In August, he met the political activist Charlie Kirk, later speaking to him regularly.[4] By that month, he had established a podcast, The Brilyn Hollyhand Show, and had interviewed Kirk and the commentator Candace Owens.[9]
In January 2019, President Donald Trump invited Hollyhand to tour the White House and thanked Hollyhand for sending him letters.[10] In December 2021, Hollyhand interviewed Texas senator Ted Cruz, in which Cruz stated that he was considering running for president in the 2024 election.[11] He later interviewed the four White House press secretaries in Trump's first term; former vice president Mike Pence, whom Hollyhand asked if he was running for president in the 2024 election;[7] House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise;[12]Donald Trump Jr.; and Alabama senator Katie Britt.[13] In May 2022, Merrill awarded Hollyhand the NASS John Lewis Youth Leadership Award for his political reporting.[12]
Co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council (2023–2025)
In January 2024, Hollyhand claimed to have presented chairman Michael Whatley and co-chairwoman Lara Trump with a proposal to invite influencers to that year's Republican National Convention, in an effort to garner younger voters.[18] In May 2025, he opened a Trump fundraiser at Coleman Coliseum.[6] In June, he joined Alabama secretary of state Wes Allen's campaign in the 2026 lieutenant gubernatorial election.[19] The following month, Hollyhand published One Generation Away: Why Now Is the Time to Restore American Freedom. He told The Tuscaloosa News that he began working on the book in October 2023.[13]
Further political work (2025–present)
Hollyhand (right) with U.S. representative Barry Moore, attending a memorial for Charlie Kirk
In an interview with NPR, Hollyhand described himself as the "bottom of the totem pole" for being a "white, straight male", and expressed concern that affirmative action would prevent him from getting into certain universities. He praised the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) rejecting affirmative action in college admissions.[24] After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine (2024) that frozen embryos are legally minor children, Hollyhand agreed with the court's ruling.[25] In October 2025, Hollyhand told Clemson University students that he was a critic of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, that pornography is a "threat", and that the United States should have a "legal immigration" option.[4]
Hollyhand has expressed support for Israel, framing his support as a religious imperative for Christians, as opposed to a geopolitical mandate.[4] In October 2025, he stated that no nation should be receiving a "blank check" from the United States, including Israel and Ukraine.[27]
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