Trump talks about MMA and golf on a podcast for young male voters.

Donald Trump has appeared on numerous shows with large audiences of young men, conducting interviews with influencers, comedians, and podcasters outside of the typical political media. What is his strategy?

About 15 minutes into the conversation between Donald Trump and comedian Theo Vaughan, the conversation veered from usually blunt speeches into unlistenable territory.

“I had a great older brother who taught me not to drink. “Don’t drink or smoke,” he said. “I had so much respect for that guy…” And he had a drinking problem.”

“I’ve been in recovery for most of the last 10 years,” Von responded. “Drugs and alcohol.”

Trump seemed genuinely interested.

“Which is worse?” he asked. The two spoke at length about addiction and the drug industry.

It wasn’t that there was no politics at all. Within minutes, Trump again mentioned the “deep state” and his complaints about the voting system. But friendly dialogue was a prime example of a larger campaign strategy.

Trump has conducted a series of interviews with podcasters and alternative media, forming a concerted effort to reach young people.

Although this tactic is not new (for several months now), Trump has been appearing in male-dominated alternative media outlets targeting large audiences. This has become even more important in the final stages of this election.

In August, the Trump campaign told reporters it was targeting a core group of voters who make up just over a tenth of voters in swing states. They are mostly young men and mostly white, but this group also includes more Latinos and Asian Americans than the general population.

And they have often gone on a whim by featuring Trump on shows hosted by people like Von, internet pranksters Nelk Boys, YouTuber Logan Paul and livestreamer Adin Ross, who has been repeatedly banned from the site for violating its rules against offensive language. I believe in reaching voters.

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

Although not famous in the mainstream media world, these podcasts have an audience of millions. Von’s interview with Trump has nearly 14 million views on YouTube.

Opinion polls show the political gender gap among young people has widened since Kamala Harris won the Democratic nomination in July. Overall, the vice president appears to be attracting more young people to his camp. However, support for young women grew faster than support for young men.

A recent survey by the Harvard Youth Poll found that 70% of women under 30 support Harris and 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 Study of American Life, part of the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, said the political gender gap reflects broader social divisions, which are leading many young people to choose politicians who care about them. He said he felt like there was very little of it.

“Trump is very good at turning situations into zero-sum games,” Cox said. “Young people are trying to understand their place in a rapidly evolving society. As a group, they are struggling academically and experiencing mental health issues and increased suicide rates.

“This is a very real concern and there is a perception in the political sphere that no one is championing it,” he said.

But Trump’s podcast tours are less about policy and more about ‘showing up’ and speaking in a different style to different crowds, Mr. Cox says.

The attempt to change the tone is evident in his recent podcast interview. In this interview, the most relaxed former president conducts a conversation about golf, mixed martial arts and Maga world policy. Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan often references America First. Approach – Assume good common sense rather than picking a controversial topic and debating it.

Before the addiction conversation began on Von’s show, Trump showed off more than just casual knowledge of the sport by praising Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors, including Dustin Poirier.

“He is a warrior,” Trump said. “The man he was fighting was strong. As the fight went on, he got stronger and stronger.”

When President Trump made a slew of unsubstantiated and incorrect statements about voting, immigration and the border, including the claim that “hundreds of thousands of murderers” had entered the United States, Vaughn did not back down and, in fact, enthusiastically agreed.

There’s a lot of confusion on the podcast circuit, but sometimes hosts seem awestruck, polite, or even nervous. Prior to one chat, the Nelk Boys were filmed gulping down a can of their own brand of sparkling water to calm themselves down before Trump entered the room.

But their audience does not demand difficult questions or detailed policy positions.

“A lot of young people don’t seek out hard news,” says Cox. “Their first interest may be cryptocurrency or video games, and politics comes later through the side door rather than the front door.”

There are other signs that Trump is pivoting hard toward male voters. For example, the stage at the Republican National Convention was filled with Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, and UFC CEO Dana White instead of being introduced like at previous conventions. – His daughter Ivanka.

Comments on podcast interviews show that many viewers and listeners already support the former president, but getting them to the polls can be a real challenge.

Voter turnout among young people lags overall, with young men tending to have slightly lower turnout than young women.

The Harris campaign is also creating its own podcast aimed at young women. The vice president faced less aggressive questions during a recent appearance on the popular sex and relationships pot Call Her Daddy.

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

He said he found Paul’s brand of ‘dictator’ attractive and had an overall positive view of Trump before the interview, calling him ‘a patriotic nationalist who wants to get the country back to an improved state than before.’ .

“But the persecution he is facing suggests that while there is a constant intent by the media to rewrite who he is and what he represents, there is a greater evil at work,” he said. “And that made me more inclined to be open-minded about voting for him.”

The internet star who watched Trump on Paul’s podcast asked him if he had ever been in a fight, and Trump’s interview with Adin Roth confirmed his view, Garrett told the BBC.

Garrett said younger Americans are increasingly interested in politics and that he believes Trump is tapping into the alternative media space “like no candidate has before.”

“So whether it’s a good strategy or a bad strategy, it’s going to impact a significant number of young people,” he said.

Online reaction to the video was generally positive. “No one can convince me Trump isn’t just a bro,” one person said, while another said, “Whether you like him or not, he sure knows how to make an interview entertaining.”

But some experts question whether there is enough room for Trump to grow his voting base in the male-heavy subculture where he has long enjoyed support.

“Trump seems to have already captured the male-dominated masculinity of men over 25, so this is a late-stage, somewhat desperate attempt to become more relevant,” said Jack Bratich, a media professor at Rutgers University. “Manosphere”.

Bratich says young men who were extremely online were very active during the 2016 election campaign. That’s because political memes and extreme message boards like 4chan were prominent at the time, Bratich says.

Now, eight years later, things are very different, he says. “No specific right-wing youth-based online political movement has been identified” and is heavily participating in this year’s contest.

But he points out that there is little risk and potentially large reward for Trump.

Whether it will succeed will depend on persuading politically disengaged young people to log out and head to the polls.

Like so much else about this election, the play for young voters is full of unknowns.