She continued, “Most cultures have rites of passage that you go through growing up, and that’s not easy, but America just doesn’t have those. And we’ve lost a lot of our traditional role models over a generation, and in their place have been the internet influencers and celebrities that so many of us now look up to.”
Democrats are trying to craft their own contrasting vision of masculinity in light of Trump’s embrace of these creators. Last week, Democratic digital strategist Mike Nellis helped organize a White Dudes for Harris organizing call, in which dozens of white male politicians and celebrities spoke to thousands of white men about voting for Harris. During the call, many speakers, including Harris’s running mate, Tim Waltz, urged these disaffected young men to abandon the Republican Party.
“I believe there are millions of white men in this country who are tired of MAGA politics, who reject Project 2025, and who need some other model and permission structure, and that’s what we’re doing with White Dudes for Harris,” Nellis said.
Nellis sees Harris’ decision to add Waltz to her slate as another ploy to attract white male voters. “He’s a father, he’s kind of a ‘real man’ on paper, but he supports and defends women’s rights, he’s pushing for a woman of color for president, he’s talking about ending gun violence,” he said. “I think there’s a new model emerging and a battle going on about what it means to be a man.”
“This cultural problem with young men has been around for years and it’s now becoming a political issue and both parties recognize it,” Kleinfeld said.
In 2019, I wrote a profile on a YouTuber named Joey Saladas who was running against Nicole Malliotakis for Staten Island Congress. He was a long shot to win, but his model girlfriend, luxury cars, and 10 million Instagram followers convinced him he had a chance. Saladas looked up to Trump and saw no rules as someone for whom the pursuit of money and success was not.
4chan incels and hyper-masculine YouTube pranksters looked to former President Trump as a role model even before he was elected, and in 2024, these influencers and brain-rotten forum posters have more clout than ever before, and they’re giving back to the man who made it all possible.
“In some ways, they’re like post-incels, having gained fame and followers and overcome the incel part, but still carrying around resentment and insecurity that’s expressed in strange ways,” said Jack Z. Bratich, a communications expert and professor at Rutgers University. “It’s possible that the Trump campaign is trying to reach this demographic, or that they’re simply trying to get more young male voters and have stumbled upon this new variant of online youth.”
About 49% of young white men voted in the 2020 election, up 9 percentage points from 2016, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics.
Chat Rooms
Thank you to everyone who provided such thoughtful responses to our last newsletter. I really appreciate receiving your questions and speaking with you face to face.
This week, I want to hear your thoughts on how Republicans and Democrats are reaching out to young men during this election cycle. Have you had conversations with people around you that give you confidence that it’s working? Is there anything else they should be doing?
