Trump Is Running A ‘Dudes Rock’ Campaign. It’s Actually Working Pretty Well

If you’re a politician and want to appeal to young men, you shouldn’t spend years belittling them and then, in the eleventh hour, send a Marxist Mr. Magoo candidate on a pheasant hunt only for him to fumble around with a shotgun.

You also shouldn’t hire paid actors and a Jimmy Kimmel writer to whip up a cringe ad about how masculine men aren’t afraid to support a woman like Kamala Harris. But that’s exactly what the Harris-Walz campaign is doing in the final stretches of the race to court all the young men they’ve spent years alienating. They are attempting to repair a brand that has been Bud-Lighted. (RELATED: Democrats Bud Lighted Their Entire Brand, And It’s Too Late To Save It)

Trump, on the other hand, appears to be running a “Dudes Rock” campaign.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 24: Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) looks on after Trump spoke during an election night watch party at the State Fairgrounds on February 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. Trump defeated opponent Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

What is a Dudes Rock campaign, you might ask? A Dudes Rock campaign is going on a male-centric podcast, instead of a sex advice podcast like “Call Her Daddy,” and chopping it up with a couple dudes about football.

President Trump is NOT a fan of the new NFL kickoff rules.@BussinWTB pic.twitter.com/Nj9Td4kuF6

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 15, 2024

It’s all the UFC appearances Trump has made in the past year. It’s inviting Elon Musk to a campaign rally. It’s the various podcast interviews with the Nelk Boys, Adin Ross, Logan Paul and Theo Von.

And it seems to be working. While Harris and Walz make flaccid, last-ditch efforts to win over men, mainly by doing and saying things that men will find fake and obnoxious, Trump is just being himself, on whatever platform is offered him, and building on his lead among young males between the ages of 18 and 29.

In late August, journalist Peter Hamby warned Bill Maher that a shift in young men toward Trump could blow up Kamala’s hopes of becoming the first female president.

“This is a real issue for Kamala Harris,” Hamby said. “This could be fatal for her campaign … Democrats need to win 60% of the youth vote to win the White House.”

(L-R) Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, US President Donald Trump, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull join hands for a family photo during the opening ceremony of the 31st Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila on November 13, 2017. World leaders are in the Philippines’ capital for two days of summits. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE – JANUARY 23: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with former candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during a primary night party at the Sheraton on January 23, 2024 in Nashua, New Hampshire. New Hampshire voters cast their ballots in their state’s primary election today, with former President Donald Trump winning the primary, finishing ahead of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Hillary came up short; Obama did it; Biden did it. Kamala Harris is right now at, like, 55% of the youth vote,” he went on to say. “If she doesn’t get to 60, she could lose the election, and it’s because young men, Gen Z men, are breaking to Trump.”

This election might really come down to dudes who rock. We shall see.