Transcription
Did an election that was supposed to revolve around women's issues actually come down to the plight of young men? The 2024 race long ago turned into the boys versus girls election, with polls showing Harris performing significantly better among women and Trump among men. But the question was, how big will the gender gap actually be? Well, we all know now it was big enough to hand Donald the presidency.
More than half of the male vote nationwide, 55%, went to Trump, while 42% went to Harris. Men under 30 saw a dramatic shift from supporting Democrats in 2020 by a 15 percentage point margin to swinging back to the GOP by 1 point. A CNN exit poll also found men under 30 in Pennsylvania favored Trump by 21 points in 2020; Biden won that same group by nine points.
A part of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign strategy involved using hyper-masculine voices like Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock, UFC CEO Dana White. Democrats may have miscalculated the strength and importance in appealing to men. On their party's website, under the headline "Who We Serve," Democrats showed a diverse list of minority groups, including LGBTQ+ Americans, Americans with disabilities, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, women, and many other communities. No mention of men.
You might remember back in August I noted this made reference to the omission in a conversation that I had with Professor Scott Galloway of the Democratic Party. Right now, Michael is facing the same issue as some of the DIY apparatus at universities. And that is when you are purposefully and explicitly advocating for 76% of the population, are you advocating for them, or are you discriminating against the 24%? And that's how I think a lot of young men feel. Quite frankly, they just don't feel seen by the Democratic Party.
In the final months of the election, Donald Trump reached out to young male voters on popular platforms that they subscribe to. His campaign even consulted Trump's youngest son, Barron, on where to find this audience. Trump did lengthy interviews with Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Logan Paul, and Busson with the boys on Barstool. A three-hour interview with Joe Rogan last month reached 55 million listeners and resulted in Rogan's late endorsement for Trump on election eve.
After clinching the presidency early Wednesday morning, Trump and his family, as well as his campaign surrogates, took to the stage to thank their supporters. UFC CEO Dana White gave a personal shoutout to the Manosphere: "I want to thank some people: I want to thank the Nelk Boys, Aidan Ross, Theo Von, and last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan."
Joining me now is NYU Business School professor Scott Galloway. He's the host of the podcast. Professor G, great to have you back. We've all heard of toxic masculinity. What is aspirational masculinity?
"Good to be with you, Michael. Aspiration is feeling good about being a man, believing you are entitled to more economic opportunities than what's currently presented," he says. "So I feel like most of the stats I was going to discuss, you've already kind of stolen my thunder, but essentially this was supposed to be the election, the referendum on bodily autonomy. This was the testosterone election. Look at who Trump won. Look at who and what he went all in on: crypto, Elon Musk, rockets, cars.
"You talk about podcasts. There's a difference between being a celebrity and being effective. Whether we can discuss whether his policies are right or not, but gosh, talk about effective. That number you mentioned, a total of 55 million people listened to or watched the Rogan podcast. The average age is 34, skews male. Just to talk about broadcast television, some of the best shows on MSNBC, seen as a left-leaning network, get a million viewers, and the average age is 70 and skews female.
"So what would be more effective? 1,000,007-year-old women or 45, 55,000,034-year-old men? In your state, the swing years of swing states: young men were nine points towards Biden in 2020 and then 18 points toward Trump in 2024. That's a tectonic shift. And it all comes down, in my opinion, to the same thing. A 30-year-old man or woman isn't doing as well as his or her parents were at 30 for the first time in America's history.
"And if your son isn't in a relationship, can't afford to buy a home, is anxious, is depressed, do the rights of Palestinians, territorial sovereignty of Ukraine, or trans issues even register on your radar? This was the testosterone podcast election.
"I want to say that you've spoken of these issues. We've spoken of these issues before. There was a 2024 campaign, and I can remember having conversations with Scott Galloway going back two or three years, some of them here on CNN, some of them on Sirius XM, wondering. And I wasn't thinking Donald Trump, but why doesn't someone champion this cause? And really, he was the first to step forward and do so.
"He went right—he flew right into the fray and he embraced this, the Manosphere. He talked about the need and cry. Right. What is more ground zero for kind of young men and economic opportunity? Whether you believe that or not, then crypto.
"Let's look at some of the stats: 40 years ago, the average age of the first-time homebuyer was 36. Today, it's 54. Pre-pandemic, the average home was $290,000; post-pandemic, it's $420,000. With an acceleration in interest rates, you're looking at the average mortgage has gone from $1,100 to $2,240 a year ago. Two-thirds of people under the age of 30 had a home. 60% had a child.
"All of a sudden, young people opted out of having a home and a family. Or maybe they just can't afford it. And unfortunately, the Democrats weren't able to square the circle of the fact that the economy is actually quite good. And some of Trump's policies, whether it be deficit spending or tariffs, will likely result in more inflation and greater interest rates and taxation on the young. But they weren't able to communicate that.
"The impact of the podcast medium can't be understated here, Michael, because some of the offensive things that we Democrats thought were offensive—The zip case in podcasts, it softens people. Podcast hosts aren't looking for a gotcha moment. They generally want to present the individual in their best light, and it's more got the vibe of 'Can't you take a joke?'
"And if you look at the nine out of ten podcasts, eight of them lean right, and Trump went on six of them. I mean, there’s going to be a lot of forensics here, but not acknowledging the struggles of young men as a theme will be a very big issue when we look at the autopsy that failed Harris campaign.
"And also, simply put, she should have gotten on a plane to meet the demographic group that swung most violently towards Trump: young people. The second most violent swing was their parents, ages 45 to 64. All of the social engineering, all of the righteous social issues didn't even take a backseat. They weren't even in the car because what people see is their kids not doing well, specifically young men.
"And Trump went right into this issue. I want to display what you're discussing. Put up the Edison Research exit survey data. This was published by The Washington Post. I don't know if Scott can see it, but it shows that among 18 to 29-year-olds, she had the majority. But as we've documented, he gained significantly among young men. But now look at the 45 to 64 category. It was the best category for Donald Trump.
"You just made reference to this. But who are those people as they relate to young men? I hear from them every day, Michael. When I started talking about the struggles of young men three or four years ago, there was a gag reflex. I understood it because a lot of who entered that void were, quite frankly, thinly veiled misogynists.
"The conversation has shifted, and the people driving this conversation in the emails are the demographic I get the most emails from. Are the following: single mothers worried about the issues. Are you focused on international issues, or the rights of special interests when your son—my daughter's in Pennsylvania at college, my other daughter is in PR, in Chicago, and my son is in the basement, vaping and playing video games? And you want me to worry about Ukraine? You want me to have empathy for the zombie apocalypse on camera, which is seen as very democratic?
"No, I want my kid out of my house, and I want him to have the same opportunities my generation had. The second biggest swing in the female vote that swung most aggressively away from Harris and towards Trump was one demographic: mothers.
"You're entitled to this victory lap because you've been saying it. I've been thrilled to give you the platform to say it for years. Thank you, Professor G. Thank you, Michael, for being first and unafraid to talk about this issue.
"America is a platform with wonderful rights, wonderful freedoms, directly linked to economics. And I think the Democrats need to re-embrace their strengths, which is better markets under Democratic leadership and giving young people more hope. That is what America is about. And Democrats have actually been pretty good at that; they just haven't been able to communicate it.
"But again, thank you for bringing this up early and often."