Donald Trump reportedly asked campaign strategists to consult his youngest son, Barron Trump, as they booked the former president on a tour of various macho bro podcasts catered to young men.
In a new piece by Time magazine titled “How Trump Won,” staff writer Eric Cortellessa reported that the president-elect’s team identified men, particularly young men, as a key voting cohort they should activate.
“These young men didn’t get their news from mainstream media and were less concerned with reproductive rights or democratic backsliding. When they did interact with politics, it was mostly through edgy bro podcasts and social media. They appreciated Trump’s brashness and habit of smashing norms,” Cortellessa wrote.
The campaign enlisted the help of Alex Bruesewitz, a 27-year-old Republican consultant, to present Donald Trump with a list of podcasters that aligned with the strategy.
When Bruesewitz met with Trump to pitch him the list, Time reported that the former president said, “Call Barron and see what he thinks and let me know.”
According to The Washington Post, which also reported on the exchange, Bruesewitz reached Barron Trump and got the green light to get his father to go on comedian Theo Von’s podcast.
A person briefed on the discussion told the Post that the 18-year-old said to Bruesewitz, “Oh yes, you should definitely do Theo Von. I watch it all the time. And then he says, ‘You should do Adin Ross next.’”
Donald Trump did join Ross, a provocateur and streamer who was banned from Twitch for violating its “unmoderated hateful conduct” guidelines, on his podcast.
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“My son’s told me about you, and they told me about how big, he said, ‘Dad, he’s really big,’” Trump said during their conversation in August.
In his sit-down with Von later that month, Trump went viral for asking the comedian if he still does cocaine and what it feels like.
Trump also sat down with podcasters like the Nelk Boys, Joe Rogan and Logan Paul, all of whom have enormous young male followings.
While gains in multiple demographics played roles in Trump’s win over Kamala Harris, swing state exit polls show that young men turned away from the vice president en masse, shattering the illusion that younger voters are reliably progressive.