Why We Need to Speak with American Men

Declining to treat them as seriously as we do other voters reinforces what they already think: that Democrats don't care about them

For his inaugural episode of his podcast this spring, Gavin Newsom chose to invite self-styled right-wing youth influencer Charlie Kirk to be his guest. In the interview, Kirk revealed that–a while ago–they came up with the bold idea to move young voters away from the Democratic party by 10 points over ten years. It seemed crazy at the time.

Fast forward to 2025. National Exit Polls indicated a 12-point shift toward Republicans among men ages 18-29 over the last four years. A demographic that Biden carried by 11 points in 2020 swung to Trump by one point this past November.

According to the recent What Happened report by Democratic data powerhouse Catalist, Democrats lost ground among men under 30 across all racial and ethnic groups, including a 16-point decline among Hispanic/Latino men, 10 points among Black men, 6 points among AAPI men, and 4 points among White men. They exceeded Charlie Kirk’s goals. For years the Democratic ethos has been that if young people vote at all, they win them by default. This year smashed that myth along with so many other lies we tell ourselves.

Some of us tried to raise serious alarms in the lead up to the 2024 election. It didn’t shift focus or attention, much less resources. In fact, Republicans outspent Democrats 6-1 on ads to reach young men, which doesn’t even reflect the most valuable resource the campaign invested: the candidate’s time–Trump spent a lot of his on platforms to reach young men. Those figures don't even include the untraceable millions going to learning and wiring algorithm’s to serve up right-wing content into the feeds of these guys. The right understood that social media is not about content, it’s about conditioning. They built an empire.

So in 2025, we put our heads together to launch SAM, Speaking with American Men, an effort to bridge the chasm that currently exists between far too many young men and the Democratic coalition.

That task can feel daunting. After SAM launched, we traveled around the country to listen to what young men had to say. To date, we have held over 60 hours of conversations with men in 36 states, covering every region of the country. We listened to Trump voters, Harris voters and nonvoters. White collar workers, working class folks, and those who live in the gig economy. We consumed the same media they report consuming. We asked them what they feel like they need to get a little support. We listened to their answers; they were happy someone was asking.

What we heard was pretty bleak; we’re not surprised that Democratic operatives don’t want to hear it, particularly those who were on the front lines of the last lost war. Only 13% of young men feel represented by the Democratic party. A majority report that they think the party is too weak to make real change even if they wanted to. Some subset of that group believes that the party doesn’t even care.

Men under 30 are struggling, and feel acutely that they are behind their fathers’ accomplishments at the same age. Real wages are down but the cost of everything from groceries to housing has skyrocketed. Buying a home seems increasingly inconceivable. College is expensive and there are increasing threats to career prospects even for those who attend. The oldest were 25 when Biden was elected and the youngest 13. We're talking about a generation that has been shaped by significant economic upheaval, a pandemic, mental health crisis, and massive resources being invested by the right into algorithmic radicalization.

We’re mostly not losing them on policy. They support reproductive rights, believe climate change is real and want higher wages–all things that Democratic candidates emphasize. They want to hear more about affordable housing, access to healthcare and viable career paths for those who don’t attend college. But there are real places they see Democrats as vilifying activities that are core to their lives and their identities, like trading crypto and gaming.

But closing the gaps on policy won’t matter if liberals and Democrats can’t be bothered to show up in the places where guys are hanging out to talk about their lives. Trump did an online launch for his 2024 bid with Adin Ross on Kick. He had the Nelk Boys on stage at a rally. He did a deep dive on Theo Von about addiction and his dad’s alcoholism. He sat with Joe Rogan for hours. Republicans spent $20 million dollars on reaching young men just in the final three months of the election. That's on top of what they have spent building and growing the vast right wing operation that is dedicated to shaping culture for young men: Charlie Kirk leads an $80 million a year operation, so we accept his attacks on SAM’s efforts as a badge of honor. The Harris campaign spent weeks deciding whether to send someone on Joe Rogan.

In the circular firing squad that has come to define Democratic politics, unnamed sources and campaign staffers launching second careers as pundits have decided to dunk on SAM. Most of them ignored the warning signs or were devoid of ideas to solve the problem. Others clearly don’t think young men are worth the time and investment; they think a couple of conversations in a bar will suffice. They suggest we don’t need a dedicated program to do outreach and engagement. They express no curiosity to hear how these guys want to see their country move forward. That kind of response is like a parody of what young men already believe: that Democrats don’t care about them. Young men know that hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on figuring out how to better engage with women and other core constituencies in the Democratic base. They feel they don’t rank.

Fortunately, others are showing up differently. Sen. Cory Booker and Gov. Gavin Newsom are appearing with gamers through efforts like Win the Fight Live. Pete Buttigieg is appearing on Flagrant with Andrew Schulz. Governors Gretchen Whitmer and Wes Moore have both outlined policy agendas for young men in their states. Politics ain’t beanbag: $16 billion was spent on federal campaigns in 2024 alone. SAM is here to work with anyone who sees the real need and pain in this generation and wants to move to address it. We’re also here to invest in the leaders in this space, the guys who do trench warfare with the right in spaces most Democrats don’t tread.

Let us be clear: we believe that these guys are worth talking with and enlisting for ideas about what’s next. They should know how tariff prices will jack gaming hardware and how Trump’s meme coin is a key reason why we need consumer protections in crypto. We think hearing about their mental health and economic struggles matters in building trust that we might be able to solve real problems. And we think that debunking some of the trash from the right that they are served up regularly is a worthwhile investment for not just Democrats, but for democracy.

Why is SAM focused on young men?

• We believe we can win them back, and we believe they’re worth it: Young men agree with many of the core principles of the Democratic party, including support for access to health care, reproductive rights, and Social Security. But we have failed at reaching them culturally. This demographic swung hard to Trump from its historical support for Democrats, but data since the inauguration shows that their approval of Trump has dropped more than among any other. These young men are not lost to the right forever if we compete aggressively for their votes.

• The lane is wide open: Democrats, and the left more broadly, have underinvested in outreach to men for decades, so our infrastructure to learn what makes them tick, find them and persuade them lags far behind Republicans’. But that blank space means there is tremendous opportunity for experimentation and bold new ideas, which we’re excited to dive into.

• This isn’t just about 2025, 2026 or 2028: The trend lines in ideological shifts and the gender gap indicate that this challenge isn’t going away–there is no “return to normal,” or even a leveling off, with the next voters who will come of age. And young people get older: they turn into the civic leaders and super voters of tomorrow. But the habits and ideologies they form when they’re young are the foundations of those they have when they’re older.

• We can’t afford not to: Elections are math equations: whoever gets to 50% +1 wins. They are exercises in stitching together coalitions of large groups, small groups and individuals, and making it all add up to more than the opposition has. We can’t make the math work if we concede any significant group.

What Will SAM Actually Do?

SAM will focus on three key areas:

1. A Research Hub: We’re doing the most in-depth research of young men the Democratic party has ever done: focus groups, survey research, media research, social listening and more. We’re going to aggregate research from across the ecosystem and regularly share insights to catalyze more action in the field.

2. Engaging in media and community ecosystems: The right has been engaging in many of the spaces–both digital and offline–that young men inhabit for years. Engaging and building meaningful relationships can’t be done in the month before an election in communities where trust and authenticity are paramount. But if the best time to start was a decade ago, the second best time is today.

3. Compelling and continual engagement: We’ll drive content in places where young men hang out; we’ll test and share what works in terms of policy, tactics, language and culture. We’ll engage in the debate about candidates, parties, and elections.

What About this Substack?

We’re doing loads of in-depth research ourselves, and other cross-disciplinary researchers are doing important work as well, and we’ll be sharing both regularly. We hope this will be a resource for others on the left looking to engage young men.

We’ll also feature op-eds and other opinion writing, both from the SAM team and from special guests doing related work. Please sign up to follow our work. We’re looking forward to sharing and learning from you.

And if you’d like to collaborate, or have ideas about work we should do, please reach out!