Donald Trump courts young conservative influencers

Donald Trump. Image via AP.

At first glance, there’s little that a 78-year-old former president and a 23-year-old internet personality might have in common.

Donald Trump admitted in a recent appearance on Adin Ross’ show that he only “more or less” understood livestreaming, the publishing of live video on social media. But he told Ross he appreciated that the show was part of “the new wave” of information — and he credited his youngest son, 18-year-old Barron, for helping educate him.

“My son’s told me about you, and they told me about how big, he said, ‘Dad, he’s really big,’” Trump said during their two-hour conversation.

Trump’s campaign has fully embraced the bravado-filled, macho, often contrarian online spaces popular with a subset of younger men on livestreaming platforms like Twitch and Kick, as well as on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The former president has appeared with the influencer Logan Paul, another personality Trump said was a favorite of his youngest son, and spoke on X with multibillionaire Elon Musk, a figure revered by many younger conservatives.

Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are competing for voters who increasingly get most of their news from non-traditional sources. Trump’s campaign aides talk to conservative influencers about potential topics and guests, while the Harris campaign credentialed around 200 content creators to the recent Democratic National Convention, with some getting free hotel stays and other perks from aligned liberal groups to be in Chicago.

“This election is where influencers as news sources have really matured into a place where campaigns have real outreach programs and treat them almost like segments of the media,” said Tammy Gordon, a digital communications strategist. “And that’s one of the really neat things about the evolution of political advertising. Plus, the scary thing is that you can so finely slice and dice the electorate that you’re feeding different messages in different places.”

In his appearance with Trump, Ross toned down his normally provocative persona and swapped out his normal discussion topics of video games, sports and women for Trump’s foreign policy and immigration talking points.

Ross gifted Trump a Rolex watch and then walked with him to sit inside a Tesla Cybertruck decaled with a picture of the former president’s face after the July assassination attempt at a rally, along with images of a bald eagle and an American flag. Then the two danced outside the truck.

Ross is an internet personality who gained prominence in 2020 by livestreaming video games with now-professional basketball player Bronny James, son of NBA legend LeBron James, and later appearing with rappers like Lil Uzi Vert. He became known for making provocative comments about sexuality and women on his livestreams.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.