Why Donald Trump is turning to YouTube influencers and pranksters to win the ‘bro’ vote

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Donald Trump is turning to YouTubers, pranksters and podcasters to win over the so-called “bro” vote.

His campaign — which recently announced a new aggressive strategy described as “Trump on steroids” — is specifically targeting 18- to 29-year-old men by pitching them through non-traditional media channels,The New York Times reports.

To garner support among the bro voters, the Trump campaign is dedicating time to YouTubers like Logan Paul and podcasters like Theo Von, the Times reports. The former president sat down with Paul in June for his Impaulsive podcast, which garnered six million views. During that appearance, Trump gifted Paul with T-shirts featuring his Fulton County, Georgia mugshot.

“They’re so straightforward,” Louis Wagner-Lang, a 21-year-old college student, told the Times of podcasters like Von and Paul. “They say something, and you think, ‘That makes a lot of sense.’”

The Trump campaign has also worked with the Nelk Boys, known for their YouTube pranks and the Full Send political podcast, during which they often host Trump-world guests. Trump appeared on the podcast in April, and his running mate JD Vance sat down with them earlier this month.

Van Ricker, a 21-year-old student who follows the Nelk Boys, told the Times he “really [wants] Trump to win.”

“The Nelk Boys and politics go hand in hand,” Ricker said. “Social media has blown up at the same time politics is blowing up.”

The campaign has also garnered support from Dave Portnoy, founder of media company Barstool Sports, who interviewed Trump in 2020 and revealed he will be voting for the former president come November.

Many of these creators and media companies have millions of followers and could very well influence the upcoming election.

“These guys have an influence on us young guys — we want to be like them when we grow up,” Rylan Bogue, 22, told the Times. “They’re dominating right now.”

There is a major gender divide emerging between the two candidates, with more men supporting Trump and more women voting for Harris, a CBS/YouGov poll released this month reveals.

Trump’s key base is made of men, those 45- to 64-years-old and white voters with no college education. However, among white voters who have not attended college, Trump has lost some of his leverage over Harris compared to Biden.

Harris, on the other hand, is growing her lead among young and Black voters.

Meanwhile, the vice president is leading the former president by 3.4 points, according to the latest average of national polls.