The 2024 election, has created an unforeseen separation among American citizens. Former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump, and Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris have created a battleground in the United States. But unlike elections of recent memory such as 2016 and 2020, the divide among our country’s citizens is not of race but of gender. Specifically among the younger generation (18-25), while young women have remained leaning liberal according to CNN as they have done for the last few decades, young men are shifting in droves to more conservative ideologies in record numbers.
According to a Harvard survey aimed at identifying political views among young men, Democratic identification has dropped from a 22% advantage in 2020 to a 3% advantage as of 2024. Due to a litany of perceived issues with the new administration, such as the handling of the border and the rise in immigration, the response to the war in Israel, and economic issues, many young people have drawn issues with President Biden and Vice President Harris. However many women still see Harris as the better candidate due to many conservative beliefs not aligning with their values. However, many of the issues that women have with conservative extremism aren’t as pressing to men, such as issues regarding women’s reproductive rights and equal opportunity among genders. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, two-fifths of men under 50 who support Trump feel women’s gains in society come at the expense of men.
Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” slogan have resonated with many young men who feel as if the country is being taken away from them. In recent years, discourse over what makes a “real man,” and discussions over masculinity have risen. With the shifting tides regarding perceived gender roles and LGBTQ+ awareness, many young men feel as if the country is becoming more feminine and directly attacking masculinity. Phrases like “toxic masculinity” are on the rise. According to the same study by Pew Research, 45% of Republican men believe that the country has negative views of masculine men (while the same survey showed only about 25% of the country had negative views of masculinity). Many young men still feel a sense of nostalgia for a time when typical masculine values were perceived to be more valuable. These younger men admire the perceived strength of Trump and view him as an antihero who is fighting against the ruling Democrats and the elites in their circle who are trying to tear down traditional masculinity.
Another aspect of the conservative movement that attracts so many young men is the strengthening of the border. Throughout Trump’s three campaigns, a remaining theme throughout all of them has been a more strong-armed approach to border security, famously calling to erect a wall at our southern border. Though that wall was never built, Trump imposed many restrictions on the border that were loosened under Biden, such as ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy. According to the House budget, this led to the government spending $150 billion taxpayer dollars providing for immigrants we weren’t ready for, leading many who were against Trump’s strict border policy to lean more to the right when they saw how expensive Biden’s approach was. Many people neglect the fact that undocumented immigrants contribute even more to taxes than they cost the government. According to the Immigration Research Initiative, undocumented immigrants paid $97 billion in taxes, and that number is suspected by analysts to be relative to all years of Biden’s presidency.
Possibly the biggest reason young men are leaning right lies in the economy. The handling of the economy under Biden has been greatly controversial. Perceived drops in wages relative to inflation, massive interest rate hikes by the FED, and a substantial increase in the cost of housing and basic needs like groceries have led many to draw issues with Biden’s economic policies. Despite Biden doing better than Trump in more general economic metrics, such as GDP growth (2.8% vs 3.4%), and job creation (400,000 average monthly new jobs vs. 180,000 average monthly new jobs), many young men don’t feel these positive changes. What they can see is the increasing price of gas and food, and either they or their families have to suffer the immediate pain. Regardless of Biden’s broad improvement of the economy, under Trump, immediate needs were cheaper, and that is what attracted many young men to side with him. To many young men, Trump, despite being born a billionaire, is perceived to embody the values of the working man trying to make his way in America and for some is viewed as the solution for many of the struggles facing blue-collar workers today. When in truth, Trump more likely embodies the opposite, as he has actively argued against unionization, which has given many of his blue-collar supporters access to rights they would not otherwise have.
Finally, many young men feel as if under Kamala, their rights, especially their freedom of speech, will be under threat. They believe that if they vocally disagree with topics such as LGBTQ+, international relations, and civil issues, they may be persecuted. However, under Trump, this may be more likely be the case. Under multiple accounts, reported by NPR, AP News, and CNN, Trump has threatened to revoke the broadcasting rights of networks that openly criticize him, and imprison reporters who report what he calls “fake news.”
The 2024 election has illustrated that we are in the midst of a quickly evolving political landscape. For many young men, the appeal of traditional values, in tandem with economic frustrations has led to an unprecedented shift to the Republican party. This divide among young men and women encapsulates how gender and identity can influence political alignment. As the nation approaches a future defined by such contrasts, the election results may serve as an omen for the direction of American identity and values—revealing not just who holds power, but what it means to different groups to be an American in the twenty-first century.
