How Trump won over the vote of the college ‘bros’
Photo Collage by Emily Paris, Photo Editor
In this year’s presidential election, celebrity endorsements might not have mattered as much as a surprising key voter demographic — the “bro podcast” audience.
One of the main strategies of the Harris-Walz campaign was to target younger voters with endorsements from their favorite celebrities and influencers. The Democratic party received outspoken support from big names like Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Oprah; influencers were invited to the Democratic National Convention; all the while President-elect Donald Trump’s team took a different yet evidently effective approach.
What has been deemed as Trump’s “Bro Podcast Tour” has included appearances on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Full Send Podcast,” “Six Feet Under,” “Flagrant,” “Bussin’ with the Boys” and more platforms with male-dominated viewership. Trump’s targeted campaign strategy worked: NBC’s Exit Polls show that 49% of men between the ages of 18 and 29 voted for Trump while 47% voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris also had her fair share of popular podcast visits, notably appearing on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy.” In the beginning of the episode, Cooper made an announcement to her audience that she also invited Trump. She said he was welcome to join her if he was willing to “have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about women’s rights in this country.”
In terms of viewership and popularity, The Joe Rogan Experience holds the number one spot on Spotify’s official podcast chart. Currently, Call Her Daddy is ranked at number 30, a drop from its number two spot in the 2023 Spotify rankings. This could be partly due to the backlash that Cooper received from the episode with Harris, regardless of her initial disclosure that she also invited Trump to the show.
Call Her Daddy claims in its description to be “the most listened-to podcast by women,” while Edison Research reported that The Joe Rogan Experience has 80% male viewership. With young men being a key demographic in this election and the majority of Rogan’s audience, his platform held significant influence in this election cycle.
Rogan said in a 2022 podcast appearance that he declined opportunities to have Trump on his show in the past, stating that he is not a fan.
“By the way, I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form,” said Rogan on the Lex Fridman Podcast. “I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once, I’ve said no every time. I don’t want to help him, I’m not interested in helping him.”
The podcast host changed his perspective due to the assassination attempt made on Trump this summer.
“Once they shot you, I was like ‘he’s got to come in here. It’s all about timing,” Rogan said in the episode with Trump.
Harris was also coordinating with to appear on Rogan’s podcast, but a representative from her campaign said that scheduling ultimately didn’t work out.
In Trump’s appearances, he spoke about his claim of election fraud in 2020, mixed martial arts fighters, the existence of extraterrestrial life and the assassination attempt.
Harris chose to focus on key campaign topics like abortion rights, student loan forgiveness, the economy and various women’s rights issues in her interviews.
In The Panther’s mid-September story about social media marketing in relation to the election, students spoke about how they thought the celebrity outreach would give Harris’ campaign a boost. This was prior to Trump’s “bro podcast tour,” which mostly occurred in the month leading up to Election Day.
Ultimately, Trump came out victorious, securing 55% to Harris’ 42% of male voters. Harris, on the other hand, was more popular with women, with 53% of females and 45% of males voting for her.
Compared to the 2020 NBC Exit Polls, Trump fared better with male voters this time around. Harris, however, had a 3% decrease in male votership from her predecessor, President Joe Biden.
Trump won over a crucial voter demographic in yet another example of how social media influencers can impact the nation’s politics. This could be a lesson to future politicians — as well as a complete game changer in the political sphere.
