Trump wins young men through social media
By Ben Mueller
In a survey of over 120,000 voters by AP News, more than half of American men under age 30 supported Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential campaign. Six in 10 white men under 30 voted for Trump. The president has almost become a revered figure for young men in America. Golfing, the UFC and more have all become hallmarks of the Trump mystique. One place where young men and women flock? Social media. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump utilized social media to project his image as a strong, masculine figure willing to listen to young, working-class men.
In America, more women and fewer men than ever are attending college. Many young Americans don’t pay very much attention to politics, leaving unclaimed territory for political parties. According to UC Berkeley professor and political analyst Dan Schnur, Trump was able to grab these young men’s attention by entering their sphere and bending down to their level.
“The [Trump] campaign made a great effort to reach out to young men without a college education on platforms they were already using. [For example,] Joe Rogan, Theo Bond and the Nelk boys and other [prominent right-wing podcasters.] These are all conversations in which young men would be much more likely to participate in, even if they aren’t very interested in politics, exposing them to Trump in a way that they did not see from other politicians,” Schnur said.
On his social media, Trump can often be seen on the fairway or basking in the lights of a UFC fight. According to Kaiser Health Foundation psychologist Benjamin Knipe, competitive and athletic-minded young men view Trump as someone who shares their interests and as an almost relatable figure due to his marketing efforts.
“Being involved in things that are mainstream interests, and typically male interests like sports and fighting competitions, can contribute to that appeal and that relatability. For this segment of adolescent males who are trying to find that sense of confidence and their own sense of power, and I think Trump making visible appearances at these events [can help show] that he’s strongly in charge,” Knipe said.
For other young men, Trump’s appeal comes from the strongman image that he has portrayed on social media. Knipe believes many young men appreciate Trump’s confidence and simple message.
“[Trump] puts out a confident persona, and I think people are drawn to that. One of the things about adolescence is that males tend to have slightly less developed brains. The simplicity of Trump’s message can be appealing because it doesn’t take as much thought or nuance to understand Trump’s straightforward message,” Knipe said.
To appeal to young men, Trump employed a specific messaging and policy approach that targeted issues important to blue-collar workers.
“I think the messages of inflation and border policy resonated well with voters who did not attend college. If you have a lower income, you’re going to be more susceptible to the challenges of higher prices, especially if you’re struggling to find work. The idea of individuals coming from other parts of the world to compete for these jobs can be very frustrating,” Schnur said.
During the 2024 campaign, the democratic party was more visible to young women and non-traditional male audiences. “Kamala is Brat,” “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” and more were common marketing ploys used by democrats. But for democrats, it was too little, too late. Now, democrats are working to win young voters back through the same channels used by Trump.
“There’s not much evidence that the democrats [used social media to broadcast their message to young men] And several [democrats] have acknowledged that. Since election day, you’ve seen any number of prominent democrats like Pete Buttigieg beginning to reach out to influencers in a way that was not done during the election,” Schnur said.
But for many young men, Trump’s hypermasculine conservative social media was a turn-off.
“I think that some of the influence that Trump has is unhealthy for adolescent males to be seeing, given the bigotry, racism and misogyny he has portrayed,” Knipe said. “I think that there are adolescents who recognize that, and experience [Trump’s rhetoric] as extremely off-putting and unappealing, and not something they want to model themselves after.”
Not only was Trump’s rhetoric itself risky, but his strategy of courting young men over social media was also a tricky strategy.
“It’s a tremendous risk to devote a lot of time and energy reaching out to people who don’t vote regularly. The Trump campaign took the gamble and it paid off,” Schnur said. “[Trump told voters] ‘Other people might not be paying attention to you, but I am. But I’m listening to you. I want to work with you. I want to help you.’ And for any voter, particularly a young man, that can be a very reassuring message.”
Art by Lucy Jeffers