Inside the Trump campaign’s ‘edgy’ and crass approach to appeal to young men and ride them to victory

Donald Trump has proclaimed himself the “protector” of women but the tone of his messaging has become geared toward young men with crass language and put-downs in hopes the bloc will back him in November - despite the former president potentially isolating women voters.

“Alphas for Trump,” Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesperson recently tweeted, “vs Simps for Kamala.”

This seven-word tweet perhaps encompasses Trump’s years-long immersion into a stereotypical “tough” alpha male figure — a brand that some have described as “toxic masculinity.” In 2019, the then-president even tweeted a photoshopped image of himself as Rocky Balboa. Since then, he seemingly has tried to ingratiate himself into the real version of the fictional sports legend.

He has steeped himself in cryptocurrency, surrounding himself with tech bros and UFC fighters, using sexist terms to describe his Democratic rival, enters the rally stage to the Village People song “Macho Man,” all while his running mate disparages “childless cat ladies.” It could be costing him half of the electorate.

“It’s obvious Republicans have a woman problem, but it’s not just about policy differences like abortion. The GOP gender gap is just as much about how you talk about those differences,” Nachama Soloveichik, a GOP strategist and former adviser to Haley’s presidential campaign, told the Washington Post.

Soloveichik continued: “Regardless of gender, any political staffer with a pea-sized brain should know chasing away half the electorate is a bad idea. Talk to women with respect and understanding even when you disagree.”

Not only has the Republican nominee has appeared alongside “bro-y” celebrities, such as retired wrestler Hulk Hogan, wrestler-turned-YouTuber Logan Paul, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief executive Dana White, and podcaster Theo Von, but his campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung was also formerly a spokesperson for the UFC.

Cheung doesn’t shy away from crass language — one of his favorites appears to be a derogatory word describing a man with an unfaithful wife. This language is not uncommon in the Trump campaign or the MAGA movement. Trump and his sons often use terms like “morons” and “losers.”

Chris LaCivita, Trump’s co-campaign manager, this week tried to juxtapose his boss’s “alpha” by calling Harris running mate Tim Walz a “beta.” He wrote: “Word on the street is Tampon Tim will be staging a Pheasant hunt soon …manicured hands and all to prove that he is in fact not really a “Beta” …. this will be fun to watch.”

But for all this talk about how Trump is the “alpha,” at least among women, the former president is behind in the polls, especially in swing states.

With the exception of Arizona, all swing states show a substantial gender divide. In Georgia, Harris enjoys a 12-point lead among women while Trump has a 14-point among men; in Pennsylvania she has 14-point lead among women while he has a 13-point lead among men.

“The gender gap can ultimately sway the election,” Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, told the New York Times. “When Democrats exploit it, they win, and when Republicans mitigate it, they win.”

Trump is no stranger to making misogynistic comments.

Nikki Haley, the UN ambassador during the Trump administration, urged Trump and Vance “to change the way they speak about women.” She told NBC: “You don’t need to call Kamala dumb. She didn’t get this far, you know, just by accident. ... She’s a prosecutor. You don’t need to go and talk about intelligence or looks or anything else. Just focus on the policies.”

Trump has not only questioned the vice president’s IQ but has also called her “crazy” — a nickname he has also extended to Hillary Clinton. As recently as Wednesday Trump called Whoopi Goldberg “filthy, dirty, disgusting” and told the Pennsylvania crowd that she was a “loser.”

Beyond making digs about Harris’ intelligence, Trump and Republicans frequently launch other personal attacks against Harris, some of which are downright sexist. Trump has suggested she slept her way into a position of power and even called her a “play toy.”

But these remarks aren’t new as Trump has made similar throughout the years.

Ahead of the 2016 election, the Access Hollywood tape of Trump bragging about “grabbing [women] by the p****” was considered the “October surprise.” He brushed off the bombshell recording as “locker room talk.”

This time around, he is running for office as a convicted felon — related to so-called hush-money payments given to porn Star Stormy Daniels, whom he had an affair with while his wife Melania was pregnant with Barron. He was also found liable for sexually abusing former Elle columnist E Jean Carroll.

Trump co-campaign manager Susie Wiles allegedly complained to those close to her that she has to manage a campaign that exudes “too much testosterone,” the Washington Post reported.

Even in Melania’s new book, which she is now on tour promoting, she openly disagreed with her husband’s views on abortion. “Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life,” the former first lady wrote.

Trump replied to their dissonant views, recalling telling her when she was working on the memoir: “You have to write what you believe.”

The Republican ticket has struggled with its messaging on reproductive freedoms — an issue that ranks highly among Harris voters.

Despite Trump declaring himself the “protector” of women, many still remember that he tapped three Supreme Court justices who ruled to reverse Roe v Wade. His abortion messaging has been all over the map. Trump has vowed not to sign a national abortion ban into law if he retakes the White House but has still boasted about his Supreme Court nominees.

Just this week, Vance indicated to RealClearPolitics that their administration would defund Planned Parenthood: “Our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions. That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around, it will remain a consistent view.”

The gender divide could be crucial in November. Women’s opinions of Trump will matter and abortion has been shown to be a driver of decisions in the voting booth.

“There’s a pretty big universe of women who think he’s a misogynist, that he doesn’t like women, that he demeans women, that he’s a sexual predator, et cetera, et cetera,” Harris campaign pollster John Anzalone told the Post. “And without a doubt, there’s a group of men who thinks he’s an alpha male who is going to solve all our problems by flexing his muscles.”