IS Kamala Brat? After Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination to run as leader of the Democratic party, the Harris campaign put considerable effort into relating to young voters. When British pop singer Charli-xcx tweeted, “Kamala IS brat”, Harris’ social media accounts jumped at the opportunity to gain popularity with Gen Z voters online. At the height of “brat summer”, KamalaHQ TikTok eagerly took part in online trends; she was dubbed a femininomenon and produced Chappell Roan-inspired “Harris-Walz” merchandise. Her nomination raised a record-breaking 81 million dollars in one day, garnering endorsements from major celebrities like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. The Harris-Walz campaign recognized that young voters were critical to winning the November election, but did their strategy secure the support of the country’s youngest generation of voters?
The Harris campaign targeted Gen Z but especially catered to young women. Trump and his team took a different approach, infiltrating the online spaces populated by young men. He explicitly targeted young men, and their support ended up tipping Gen Z further to the right than we have seen in years.
While social media played a significant role in young voting in this election, it was certainly not the only factor. Gen Z as a whole has faced an unprecedented set of challenges in their young years. From a global pandemic to the worst recession since the Great Depression, Gen Zers report feeling fatalistic about their futures and the future of America. Rising economic inequality, climate change, and uncertainty about the future have taken a toll on young people’s mental health and had a large impact on how they use their vote. In previous elections, young voters had stated that abortion was the most salient issue affecting their vote. However, young people were most concerned about the economy during this election.
Gen Z voters who cared about the economy flocked to Trump. Although Harris also promised strong economic plans, expanded childcare, tax deductions, and a down payment assistance plan, Trump was the “economy candidate” in this election. The Harris-Walz campaign didn’t make its economic plans a significant part of their branding, whereas the Trump campaign made it a central part of their messaging. Although economists believe that Trump’s presidency could create trouble and uncertainty for the US economy, young people thought he was the better candidate regarding economic plans. This can be attributed partly to the fact that he made the economy a central part of his narrative, showing young men that he cares about their votes, and the issues that are important to them. His focus on the economy helped Trump garner support from young Black and Latino men specifically, who said they voted for him because of the economy and jobs.
Approximately 41 million members of Gen Z were eligible to vote this November. Both parties recognized that Gen Z voter participation could be decisive in the nearly deadlocked presidential race, which a handful of swing states would decide. Young voters aged 18-29 have historically favoured Democratic candidates. Exit polling from this election showed that this voting block did not provide Democrats with the same cushion as in previous elections.
According to estimates from exit polls, Vice President Kamala Harris won the youth vote. Harris beat Trump 55% to 42% in the Gen Z demographic. Although Harris still pulled out a majority of Gen Z votes, it is clear that the Democrats are on a downhill trend from past elections, which came as a shock to many Americans. This decline was a significant underperformance compared to the 2020 election, wherein President Joe Biden bested Trump 60% to 36%. Among Gen Z voters this year, there was a 16-point gender gap between young men and women; 40% of young women voted for Trump, and 56% of their male peers did. With more young voters leaning to the right and voting for Trump, their overall support for Harris fell. The Harris-Walz campaign’s extensive youth outreach failed to materialize in the voting booth, and according to Professor David B. Cohen, “the declining level of enthusiasm for Harris among young voters absolutely played a part in her electoral defeat.”
Historically, a gender gap in voting is not uncommon; women have leaned towards voting Democrat, while men have tended to vote Republican. What is notable about the Gen Z gender voting gap in this election is how many young men voted Republican. In the past several election cycles, most young men voted for Democrats. In this election, however, young men showed up in numbers for Trump. Overall, we saw in this election that young men as a whole group, as opposed to white men only, chose Trump by majority for the first time.
It is clear why young women would choose to steer away from Trump, someone who has made countless misogynistic statements and been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. For young women, abortion rights and reproductive freedom in general remained a critical issue, which encouraged them to vote for Harris, who made the issues a large part of her platform. But how can we explain why young men flock to Trump?
While Trump’s social media presence may be one of misinformation lacking logic, his strategy was smart. In crucial swing states, Asian, Black, and Latino people comprise a significant share of eligible new voters. Targeting white men as an aggregate would no longer work, and Trump made a point of appealing to young men as a whole. According to surveys conducted by the Associated Press, young men played a critical role in his win.
Trump gained the attention of young men by appearing on social media platforms of men with huge followings. Trump appeared on podcasts like Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Adin Ross. He snagged endorsements from Jake Paul and other influencers with large followings of young men. Trump curried favour with young men in the friendly spaces of their social media feeds to become a familiar face that they could trust. Appearing on their TikTok feeds and favourite podcasts, Trump was no longer seen by young men as a violent insurrection leader but as someone to whom they could relate, finding comfort in the promises he made to them.
Social media provides not only an environment for Trump to resonate amongst young men but also for sexism and racism to be weaponized against Harris. According to researchers, today’s social media environment is vulnerable to the spread of misogynistic disinformation, specifically targeting female leaders. Kristina Wilfore, founder of #ShePersisted, an organization that researches digital threats against women in politics states that she has “never seen this fierce of an ecosystem organized to carry far-right tropes, stereotypes, and narratives than this election.” Young men, the demographic most vulnerable to disinformation, were being fed information that taps into the implicit bias against female leaders, whether they realized it or not. Many young men, however, knew that they were voting for misogyny. The phrase “your body, my choice” has circulated online after Trump’s win, making a joke out of male control over women’s bodies, and taunting women about the lack of freedom they will face under Trump’s policies. Offensive posts claiming that Harris used sex to advance her career, and AI deepfakes of Harris dressed as a sex worker circulated online during her campaign. Clearly, sexism still runs deep amongst America’s young men and was exacerbated by online spaces where they felt encouraged to share this rhetoric.
In a generation that consumes most of its news online, it is no surprise that both candidates took to social media to court young voters. Social media experts at the University of Michigan say that social media has played a more significant role in this election than we have seen in the past.
This issue is especially salient for young voters, who spend so much of their lives inhabiting these online spaces. 39% of young adults have admitted to getting their news from TikTok. More and more Americans are consuming news only from outlets echoing their points of view. After all, highly specialized social media algorithms will show people what they want to see, regardless of whether it is factual or not. If these young men signalled to TikTok that Trump was what they wanted to see, that was all they were fed. When disinformation spreads, and “truth becomes entirely subjective to your identity affiliation,” it becomes harmful to democracy, according to Professor Cliff Lampe.
The 2024 election underscores how social media deepens the polarization within Gen Z. While Harris’ campaign took to social media and meme culture to capitalize on a younger vote, focusing on empowerment for Gen Z, it didn’t materialize in the voting booth. Trump infiltrated the media landscape of the young man, making himself a friendly face for them to rally around. As Gen Z’s political involvement evolves, it is essential to combat the risks of misinformation and echo chambers surrounding political issues. Cliff Lampe states that although we lack a quick fix for these significant issues, election years highlight the stakes of unrestrained technology moving too fast. Moving forward, both parties will continue to struggle to engage Gen Z online, but most importantly, to address the issues that affect their lives.
Edited By Lucy de Cartier
This is an article written by a Staff Writer. Catalyst is a student-led platform that fosters engagement with global issues from a learning perspective. The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.
