Trump talks MMA and golf in podcast ad aimed at young male voters

Donald Trump has appeared on a series of shows with huge audiences of young men, sitting for interviews with influencers, comedians and podcasters outside of the usual political media. What is his strategy?

About 15 minutes into Donald Trump’s conversation with comedian Theo Von, the conversation veered into territory not normally heard in a stump speech.

“I have a great brother who taught me a lesson, don’t drink alcohol. Don’t drink alcohol and don’t smoke,” the former president said. “I admire him very much… And he has a problem with alcohol.”

“I have been in recovery for almost 10 years,” Von replied. “Drugs and alcohol.”

Trump seems genuinely concerned.

“Which is worse?” he asked. The pair continued to talk at length about addiction and the drug industry.

Politics wasn’t completely absent – within minutes, Trump was back to alluding to his grievances with the “deep state” and the voting system – but the friendly conversation was a good example of larger campaign strategy.

Trump has conducted a series of interviews with podcasts and alternative media, together creating a concerted effort to reach young men.

While this tactic is not new — for months, stretching back to last year, Trump has appeared in alternative, male-dominated media with large audiences — it has greater importance in the final stages of this election.

In August, Trump’s campaign told reporters that it was targeting a key group of voters, representing just over one-tenth of all voters in swing states. They are mostly young men and mostly white, but the group includes more Latinos and Asian Americans than the general population.

And they believe they can reach these often fickle voters by putting Trump on shows hosted by people like Von, the internet pranksters Nelk Boys, YouTuber Logan Paul and Adin Ross, a gamer livestreams have been repeatedly banned from sites for violating rules on offensive language.

The Nelk Boys are reportedly leading a voter registration drive on Trump’s behalf that they hope will reach a like-minded audience.

While they may not exactly be household names in the mainstream media world, these podcasts have an audience of millions. Von’s Trump interview has nearly 14 million views on YouTube.

Polls show the political gender gap among young people has been widening since Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee in July. Overall, the vice president appears to be attracting many young people more into her camp – but her support among young women has grown faster than her support among young men.

Recent research by the Harvard Youth Poll found that 70% of women under 30 support Harris, while 23% plan to vote for Trump. Among men in the same age group, 53% support Harris and 36% support Trump.

Daniel Cox, director of the Center for the American Life Survey, part of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that the gender gap in politics reflects a larger social divide that leaves many young people feeling like there are very few politicians who are paying attention to them.

“Trump is very good at turning everything into a zero-sum game,” Mr. Cox said. “Youth are trying to understand their place in a rapidly evolving society, as a group they are struggling more academically, they have mental health challenges and The suicide rate is increasing.

“These are real concerns and there is a feeling in the political arena that no one supports them,” he said.

But, Mr. Cox said, Trump’s podcast tour is less about policy than about “showing up” and speaking in a different style to a different crowd.

The effort to change the tone is evident in his recent podcast interviews, in which the former president almost comfortably leads with conversation about golf and mixed martial arts as well as politicians. Maga’s books – Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan often refers to an America first approach – are arguably more reasonable than controversial topics that need to be singled out and debated.

Before the addictive conversation on Von’s show, Trump praised Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors including Dustin Poirier, demonstrating more than his usual knowledge of the sport.

“Boy, I’ll tell you, he’s a fighter,” Trump said, “The man he’s fighting is very tough… as that fight goes on, he gets stronger and stronger than.”

Von did not dispute — and in fact eagerly agreed — when Trump made a series of false and unsubstantiated claims about the election, immigration and the border, including the claim that “hundreds of thousands murderer” has entered the country.

On the podcast, there’s a lot of confusion, but sometimes the hosts seem amazed, reverent, or even worried. Before one conversation, the Nelk Boys videotaped themselves drinking cans of their own brand of water to calm down before Trump entered the room.

But their audience doesn’t demand tough questions or detailed policy views.

“A lot of young people aren’t looking for important news,” Mr. Cox said. “Their first interest may be cryptocurrency [currency] or video games, and politics will come later — through the side door, not the front door.”

There are other signs that Trump is turning hard on male voters — such as filling the Republican National Convention stage with the likes of Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and UFC executive Dana White, was instead introduced — as he has been at previous conventions — by his daughter, Ivanka.

Judging from comments on podcast interviews, many viewers and listeners supported the former president, but getting them to the polls could be a real challenge.

Youth voting rates lag behind overall, and young men tend to vote at slightly lower rates than young women.

Harris’ campaign is also running its own podcast, aimed at young women. The vice president recently appeared on the popular TV show about sex and relationships Call Her Daddy, where she also faced less intense questions.

Garrett, a Logan Paul fan from Houston in his 20s, runs his own YouTube channel under the name Spy Jay.

He said he found Paul’s brand — “being a Maverick” — appealing and that before watching the interview, he had an overall positive view of Trump, calling him “a fundamentalist.” Patriotic nationalism wants to restore the country to its previous improved state.

“But the persecution he is facing, while the media is always intent on rewriting who he is and what he represents, implies that there is a great crime,” he said. is happening”. “And that makes me feel more open to voting for him.”

Garrett told the BBC that watching Trump on Paul’s podcast – the internet star asked Trump if he had ever been in a fight – and Trump’s interview with Adin Ross, only confirmed his views.

Garrett said he thinks young Americans are becoming more interested in politics and that Trump is tapping into alternative media spaces “like no other candidate has ever done before.”

“So whether it’s a good strategy or a bad strategy, it’s going to reach quite a few young people,” he said.

Online responses to the video were generally positive. “No one can convince me that Trump is more than just a brother when it comes down to it,” one person said, while another wrote “Love Trump or hate him, but he sure knows how to make a fight.” Interviews become interesting.

But some experts question whether Trump still has much chance to grow his voting base in male-dominated cultures, where he has long enjoyed support.

“Trump seems to have captured this generation of men and masculinity,” said Jack Bratich, a communications professor at Rutgers University who studies the online space for men known as 25 years old, so this is late and a pretty desperate attempt to be relevant.” “manosphere”.

Young people online were extremely active during the 2016 election campaign, Bratich said, when political memes and extremist message boards like 4chan exploded.

Eight years later, he said, the situation is very different with “no identifiable right-wing youth-based online political movement” deeply involved in this year’s election contest.

However, he noted that there is little risk and could be of great benefit to Trump.

Whether that succeeds will depend on persuading young people who are not inclined to engage in politics to log off and vote.

Like so much else in this election, the playbooks for young voters are filled with unknowns.