'Cracks in Trump's coalition' appear as key influencers threaten GOP's 2028 odds: report
Analysts around the country have suggested it was the conservative male podcasting culture that helped propel Donald Trump into a second term, but those same performers are now turning on the president.
Joe Rogan and other podcaster/influencers were a hot topic in the 2024 election, and Trump enjoyed a shift in the polls among young males that was largely attributed to this new political paradigm. Now, however, the tide appears to be turning.
In an article called "Pod man out: Trump's support with influential podcasters is waning," NBC News reports that, "Some of the podcasters who hosted Trump ahead of last year's election are breaking with him now on key issues like deportations and the war in Gaza."
"Some of the internet’s most popular voices with young men — almost all of whom either hosted President Donald Trump or spoke highly of him last November — have some thoughts on what he’s doing wrong," according to the outlet's reporting. "An all-star lineup of podcasters and YouTube impresarios has taken Trump to task in recent months on everything from immigration and Israel to free speech and Jeffrey Epstein. The list includes Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Andrew Schulz and Shawn Ryan, a cast that Trump courted heavily to win access to their audiences during last year’s campaign."
The report goes on to highlight how some individuals have led the charge.
"Rogan and Von have been particularly critical of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, with Rogan calling some deportations 'f------ crazy' and Von questioning why the Department of Homeland Security has posted videos of immigration arrests online," the NBC report states. "Schulz and his co-host, Akaash Singh, have criticized the president for not fulfilling his campaign promises."
After noting that "Republican and Democratic strategists alike have acknowledged that Trump’s willingness to engage with them helped give him a crucial boost in a hard-fought election," the outlet says too much of this shift could threaten Republicans in the next presidential election.
"The recent disagreements threaten to swallow some of Trump’s support — potentially with the less politically active, harder-to-reach podcast listeners — even if it does not translate into a bigger chunk of the electorate for Democrats. Trump is ineligible to seek re-election, but Republicans hope to keep hold of the new voters who turned out for him as they battle in midterm elections next year and to maintain the presidency in 2028," according to the reporting. "During recent focus groups of 18-29-year-old Trump voters — observed by NBC News as part of the 2025 Deciders series, produced by Syracuse University and the research firms Engagious and Sago — a handful of voters said that people like Rogan and Von helped to persuade them to vote for Trump."
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