Between podcasts and wrestling matches, the Republican presidential candidate is increasing his appeals to men under 35. With some success.
Big biceps, big blonde mustache and big sunglasses on his nose, wrestler Hulk Hogan tears his T-shirt on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York. “Come on, that’s what we want!”shouts Dylan, 23, who drove long hours to attend Donald Trump’s meeting on Sunday, October 27. “I knew there would be stars, but not a legend like Hogan!”he exclaims, between two series of “ONE! ONE!”a stadium slogan that fans of the Republican candidate are now chanting at the top of their lungs.
“This crazy show makes me want to vote for him twice!”shouts Harif, 20 years old, from neighboring New Jersey. The student, who wants “make a fortune in finance”would have missed the event “for nothing in the world”even if he says he already knows “by heart” Trump’s program. “I see him everywhere, on TV, on Instagram… I know who he fights for”assures the young man, who came with two friends, who does not miss an opportunity to boo the “enemies” of its candidate, starting with “fake journalists”.
For the young voters met that evening, the former Republican president represents “the America that is no longer afraid”. Out of the question of imagining for a moment voting for Democrat Kamala Harris, “too feminist” and even “dangerous for society”accuses Harif. On his torso, printed white on black, is the slogan “Yes, I vote for the criminal“, in reference to the recent conviction of Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels affair. “For me, Trump is a real bro (“brother” in English), continues Harif. He makes us laugh, he leaves us alone. With him, we have the right to be real guys. He understood everything.”
At the end of the meeting, Kyle and Michael, both 29 years old, go over the best “punchlines” of the evening. “They really all destroyed Kamala Harris”they congratulate themselves. On stage, for nearly six hours, the vice-president was jeered, treated like a “harpy”, of “Communist”and judged “unable to finish a sentence” because of its supposed “low intelligence quotient”in the words of Donald Trump. “Not the classiest treatment in the world”concedes Kyle, but violence “justified” facing a candidate he judges “threatening”. His friend nods. “She wants to take away all our rights, to say what we want, to be ourselves… All this to make us woke“Michael chokes, deeply convinced that “American universities teach female students to become lesbians, so that they no longer need men.”
In the eyes of Jackson Katz, educator and author of several books on masculinity in politics in the United States, this sexist discourse “is far from surprising”. “We have witnessed a spectacular recovery of young men by the Republican Party, and Donald Trump in particular, because no one really cared about them, he explains to franceinfo. They were ready to be picked, so to speak.”
As the essayist reminds us, the voting gap between men and women, the gender gap, “became very clear in the United States”with a Democratic preference for the female electorate, and Republican for the male electorate. Donald Trump is especially popular among white men who have not received any education beyond high school. In 2016, then in 2020, he won around 65% of the votes of this electorate, according to figures from the Pew Research Center. “The Democratic Party is just realizing that it hasn’t targeted young men enough, leaving a void that Republicans have stepped into.”analyse Jackson Katz.
In the space of four years, this segment of the electorate has turned more towards the Republican vote, with an increase in “sept points” compared to 2020, explains to New York Times John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard University Institute of Politics. Struck by stress, isolation and uncertainty about the future, Generation Z men (born after 1997) are less likely than women their age to turn to therapy for mental distress, says the chief pollster. “Trump has captured this anxiety by incorporating a hyper-masculine message into a broader discourse, which aims to undermine confidence in democratic institutions”he analyzes elsewhere.
With his aura as a media businessman, having worked on television with his show “The Apprentice” in the 2000s, the Republican has carved out a tailor-made suit to reach young voters. “Donald Trump has been speaking their language for a long time, because he is a regular at wrestling matches, very popular events among this electorate”recalls Jackson Katz. In recent years, the billionaire has also appeared as an anti-hero, “well-known figure in wrestling, someone we hate as much as we love”underlines the essayist. During his New York meeting, Donald Trump also brought Dana White, the boss of the UFC, the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) league, on stage. In his close circle, the Republican candidate also counts on Steven Cheung, a former UFC communicator, described as a “fine strategist” speak New Yorker.
On their phones, the young Trump supporters met at the New York meeting view videos in spades glorifying their “brother”. “It’s often humorous, with songs and diversions made using artificial intelligence”details Dylan, who is part of several “Maga groups” (the acronym for “Make America Great Again”Donald Trump’s slogan since 2015) on WhatsApp and Telegram. “We share all types of information, but mainly little sentences from TV or podcasts, which make us laugh”he continues.
In this galaxy of online content, Donald Trump has notably become closer to the Nelk Boys, a collective with schoolboy humor, fond of hoaxes and naked women, which has between 4 and 8 million subscribers depending on the platform. But the billionaire surely achieved his biggest blow by going to see Joe Rogan, a podcast director as popular as he is controversial, known for his conspiratorial and anti-system speeches. Broadcast on October 25, the almost three-hour interview had exceeded 35 million views on YouTube four days later.
This media pressure would lead to social pressure to vote for Donald Trump, according to Jackson Katz, who conducted dozens of interviews with young men aged 18 to 34 as part of the Young Men Research Initiative. “Many of them do not share Donald Trump’s values, but do not dare say it in their group of friends, explains the educator. In case of disagreement, they are not only criticized, they are ridiculed by calling them ‘weak’ and attacking their virility. It’s like Tim Walz’s nickname.” For having made hygienic protection available in the schools of his state, the governor of Minnesota, Democratic candidate for the vice-president, received a persistent nickname: “Tim the tampon”.
In the stands of Madison Square Garden, groups of young men chanted this nickname several times, totally in tune with Donald Trump’s speech. “But how many will vote for him in the end?”asks Jackson Katz, who recalls that this electorate remains unreliable, with 51% abstention in 2020, according to a study by Rutgers University. “Saying that we are going to vote for Trump to a pollster is one thing. But moving to do it is another. notes the educator. Participation is traditionally lower among young men who have little information.” Whatever the outcome of the November 5 election, “a milestone has been reached” within this population, nevertheless assures Jackson Katz. “For them, it is no longer a question of comparing political programs, but of waging a battle for their identity.”