Alan Dershowitz on Why He Left the Democratic Party After Voting for JFK in 1960

Alan Dershowitz campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1960. Sixty-five years later, he says the Democratic Party he supported no longer exists.

In this episode of Bay Area Innovators, host Steve Ispas sits down with Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law professor emeritus and author of 63 books, to discuss his newest release and why he left the Democratic Party. Dershowitz explains why he believes the party of JFK, Bill Clinton, and Lyndon Johnson has shifted toward positions he can no longer support, and he shares his experience being banned from speaking at public libraries and schools after publicly changing his political affiliation.

The conversation also covers birthright citizenship and how he believes Congress could legally narrow it, what he sees as judicial overreach in American courts, the state of anti-Semitism on college campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and why he calls the current environment on free speech “selective.”

At 88 years old, Dershowitz also reflects on his decades representing high-profile clients, the accusations he has faced throughout his career, and what continues to motivate his writing and advocacy today.