EDITORIAL: How Trump won young men in 2024

Right-wingers are speaking to young men’s frustrations, and the left is paying the price.

Trump’s victory revealed a trend that should worry the left: Trump captured 56% of young male voters, a group supposedly primed to lean progressive. What’s going on? How has a demographic that was once expected to reject Trump’s message turned out to be one of his strongest bases of support? The answer is complicated, but it has a lot to do with the spaces young men occupy online and how the left has neglected to reach them there.

For years, progressive analysts assumed that a generation raised with social media, global issues, and rising inequality would naturally turn left. But conservative voices were busy making inroads where many weren’t watching: fitness channels, gaming communities, entrepreneurial podcasts, and self-improvement corners. These platforms aren’t plastered with MAGA flags, but their messages about self-reliance, toughness, and resisting "cancel culture" are steeped in right-wing ideology. What’s missing? Any effective counter-narrative from the left.

Influencers like Andrew Tate and a cadre of hyper-masculine podcasters have made it fashionable to be conservative, even rebellious. Their message is deceptively simple: Be strong. Be resilient. Don’t be a victim. It’s a seductive approach that resonates with young men who feel shut out of the promises they grew up hearing. Faced with soaring housing costs, stagnant wages, and rising insecurity, many feel like they’re fighting a losing battle. And when they voice these frustrations, they’re dismissed as “incels” or warned against “toxic masculinity.” The right, meanwhile, listens, validates, and offers a distorted sense of belonging.

It doesn’t matter that these frustrations might be based on warped assumptions or half-truths—the right has captured the conversation. While Democrats spout statistics about lower inflation or gas prices, young men just aren’t feeling it. Instead, they’re getting their cues from a world of memes, viral videos, and casual online chats, all nudging them toward a vision of self-reliance and strength that echoes conservative ideals. The result? When voting day rolls around, they’re choosing the candidate who seems to embody those values.

Meanwhile, the left barely engages. Some progressive leaders try to address men’s issues, but too often, the message is muddled or dismissive. Young men don’t hear a meaningful alternative to the hyper-masculine, “tough guy” narrative the right is pushing. And so, they drift further right.

If Democrats are serious about winning back young male voters, they need to take a hard look at where they’re losing them. Offering policy solutions is essential, but so is providing an appealing alternative to the right’s model of masculinity. Progressives need to show they’re listening, acknowledging frustrations, and speaking directly to the issues young men care about. Failing to do so means watching Trump’s 56% grow—and wondering, yet again, why the left didn’t see it coming.