Young men and right-leaning podcasters helped Trump win in 2024. Both have soured on him

Like many young men, Nicholas Aparicio's concerns about future employment, buying a home or even putting gas in his car are mounting.

"The idea of starting a family feels very out of reach these days," the 20-year-old told CBC News.

Aparicio, a political science student in Binghamton, N.Y., says he voted for Donald Trump in 2024 because he believed the president would improve the economy and his own prospects. 

"The fact that he was so personable and he was this entertainer, it felt good to have him in your corner. Like, that's my guy. He's not like us, because he's a billionaire, but he's willing to empathize with us," Aparicio said. "He's going to fight for us." 

Aparicio's attitude now: "I feel like we got duped." 

While Aparicio is the president of the College of Republicans Binghamton Chapter, he's so disillusioned with the party that he’s not sure he will even vote in next week’s midterms.

Nick Aparicio, a political science student living in Binghamton, N.Y., voted for Donald Trump in 2024 because he believed the president would improve the economy and his own prospects. Aparicio thinks differently now. (Yanjun Li/CBC)

For years, it felt like many young men were all in on President Trump and his Make America Great Again platform. So were many popular right-leaning or "manosphere" podcasters, like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, who helped spread Trump’s message in the run-up to the 2024 election. 

Together, these groups helped get him re-elected. 

But young men are increasingly turned off by Trump, and those podcasters are distancing themselves, too — a trend that experts say could swing House and potential Senate seats in the midterms.

"At this point, Democrats have a 26-point lead on Republicans amongst younger people," said John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Institute. 

Midterms outcome rests largely on young men

Della Volpe’s recent poll found just nine per cent of young Americans believe the country is on the right track, while 69 per cent say they're fearful about the future. 

The same poll found only 31 per cent of young men said they would definitely vote.

"Young men absolutely helped Trump win in the last election and if they don’t come out and vote in these midterms, it will change the outcome."

David Sasaki, a director at the American Institute for Boys and Men, says that many Gen Z men are avid listeners of podcasters like Rogan, Steven Bartlett and standup comedian Andrew Schulz.

"I think that [young men] feel that they are being spoken to, not just about. It's using language that they use, it's using cultural references and jokes they understand, it’s very relatable," Sasaki said.

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He said that "authenticity, or at least perceived authenticity, is the currency of politics these days." He also said that podcasters fill a void in some young men. 

"A lot of [them] are not growing up with mentors, role models or male adults in their real life, and they’re finding them online," Sasaki said. "They have a lot of influence over these voters, who matter a lot come election day."

WATCH | The influence of right-leaning podcasters on young men:

Young men and right-leaning podcasters

October 31|

Duration

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Aparicio says while he doesn’t listen to one particular podcaster, like many of his peers, he consumes their content through social media clips.

In 2024, Rogan, Schulz and Theo Von all hosted Donald Trump on their shows and spoke about MAGA politics — which is, generally speaking, anti-establishment, anti-immigrant and anti-foreign entanglements — in a way that seemed to endorse it.

But that's changing. 

Last year, Schulz said on his podcast Flagrant that he regretted voting for Trump. In April, Carlson, the former Fox News personality and now host of the podcast The Tucker Carlson Show, also expressed regret at endorsing Trump in 2024, saying "I’m sorry for misleading people" and that he will be "tormented" by it.

Meanwhile, Rogan — still the most popular podcaster in the U.S. — has publicly criticized Trump twice: over the White House hosting a UFC fight this summer and the war in Iran. 

Comedian and podcaster Theo Von, in glasses, arrives prior to the second inauguration of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025. Since then, Von has been more critical of the president. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

CBC reached out to Rogan, Von, Schulz and Carlson for comment but did not hear back in time for publication. 

Right-leaning podcasters mentioning Trump less

In an effort to quantify conservative podcasters' disenchantment with Trump, The Wall Street Journal studied how often podcasters such as Rogan and Ben Shapiro have referred to him since the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. According to the Journal’s reporting, mentions of Trump have dropped 70 per cent. 

"There were two main plunges: one was right after the election, after which it steadily dropped, and then it dipped again after the Iran war started," Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Mehta told CBC News. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Mehta has studied how right-leaning podcasters have covered Donald Trump since he was elected president a second time. (CBC)

"Podcasters and content creators are the predominant source of news for young people. But they also prioritize being seen as real and authentic — that’s the sell," Mehta said.

For Sasaki, a number of pivotal moments demonstrate the podcasters' shift away from Trump. 

In early October, Theo Von, who hosts This Past Weekend, interviewed New York's left-leaning Mayor Zohran Mamdani. They discussed socialism, affordability and inequality.

"This to me showed what we already could see … that the conversation was really changing," said Sasaki. "In the lead-up to the 2024 election, [Von] had Trump on, who appeared very relatable. And then Mamdani went on the show and appeared even more relatable." 

Sasaki also pointed to CBS News exit polling data that showed roughly 60,000 Americans who voted for Trump in 2024 also voted for Mamdani in 2025. 

"What Trump and that campaign was able to do in 2024 was go to the spaces where young men were, speak to them in their vernacular with cultural references that they relate to, and say, ‘I know that you’re struggling, I see your struggles and we’re going to do something about it,’" Sasaki said.  

But "assuming this demographic of young men is all in on MAGA and can’t swing [away] would be an error in judgment."

Trump out of step with young men: expert

Aparicio said that by potentially not voting in this year's midterms, "I want to emphasize the point that young men should not be taken for granted by the Republicans." 

Podcaster Joe Rogan has publicly criticized Donald Trump twice this year, including calling the war in Iran a 'giant quagmire' and not what his MAGA followers voted for. (The Joe Rogan Show/YouTube)

Ultimately, Sasaki believes Trump may be missing what young men in 2026 really care about. 

"This demographic is more worried than ever about the economy. They feel very little job security, many can’t imagine ever buying a home and are even living below the poverty line," he said. 

Aparicio says Trump began looking untrustworthy shortly after he won in 2024. 

"The first real sign was him campaigning that he would release the Epstein files and then began gaslighting his followers [when he took office] and saying they don't exist," he said. 

He also believes the economy has gotten worse and that the U.S. involvement in the war in Iran and its endorsement of Israel's actions in Gaza are making things harder for Americans. 

"Hopefully if I work hard, I will be able to afford a home and raise a family," Aparicio said. 

"The way things are going, I really don’t feel sure about that."