ABC Finds It “Troubling” that Young Aussie Men are Supportive of Trump

Australian women don’t support Trump

Men are more likely to support Trump, and gender split is more stark in men under 30.

Source: Talbot Mills Research

In the United States, the gender split between Trump and Harris has sparked concern about polarisation and masculinity, but this polling shows that is being reflecting in our own community.

Young men back Trump

Talbot says we are also seeing a clear generational divide here.

“Older Aussies and Kiwis can’t stand Trump. But younger people on both sides of the ditch are more open to Trump’s brash brand of politics,” he says.

Generational divide

Younger respondents were less likely to say they would vote Harris and more likely to vote Trump.

Source: Talbot Mills Research

The split is more prominent among men: 43 per cent of young Australian men say they’d vote for Trump if they could, compared to 34 per cent who’d go for Harris. The numbers are similar in New Zealand, with 40 per cent of young men backing Trump compared to 34 per cent for Harris.

He says he usually cautions about “reading too much into polling cross tabs, but the gender split among under 30s is quite stark”.

“Younger men in both Australia and NZ prefer Trump to Harris, whilst support for Trump among young women is minuscule,” he said.

Campaigning on gender lines

In the United States most are predicting that this election will be the highest gender divide in history — and both campaigns are leaning into gendered messages to their support base in a turn out the vote effort.

Trump has been exploring his hyper-masculine message — flooding podcasts in what has been described as the “bro-sphere”, including appearing on Joe Rogan, who is a blockbuster among men.

He has also been campaigning with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who says America is a “bad little girl” who needs a spanking.

On Wednesday night, Carlson spoke to a Georgia audience using a metaphor that described Trump as an angry father about to come home to give a “vigorous spanking” to his disobedient daughter.

It comes after the former president talked about the size of the late golfer Arnold Palmer’s penis at a rally — all of these moments being viewed through the prism of a hyper appeal to male voters.

And this weekend, the Democrat approach was clear when Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland spoke onstage at the Harris rally in Houston.

“We are grabbing back the pen to write a new American story, a story of community, of equality, strength, of kindness and of hope,” Rowland said.

“I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.

“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations.

“Your voice has power and magnitude. Your vote is one of the most valuable tools. And we need you. Your freedom is your God-given right, your human right.”

Gender split should sound the alarm

So how will gender play out in the upcoming federal election?

In Queensland we have seen how issues that galvanise women (but not exclusively women) can shift votes as they did when abortion became an issue in the last few weeks of the campaign. It seems that gender is becoming a defining issue in our politics.

Watch the US for hints as to the way our political leaders will mobilise certain constituencies.

In Australia our leaders don’t have to get out the vote in the same way but appealing to these constituencies will be what they do here as well.

The US election has been played out on podcasts with mass followings among certain potential voters. When Kamala Harris spoke to Call Her Daddy she was actively mining the young woman vote. When Trump speaks to Joe Rogan or the other podcasts largely consumed by men and recommended by his youngest son Baron, he is pushing for younger men to vote for him.

Intifar Chowdhury, a youth researcher and lecturer in government at Flinders University, has previously told me there’s a growing gender divide in political ideology across the world, pronounced among younger generations.

“That is young women are much more progressive than men, and in some cases [in Europe] young men are becoming more conservative. Australia follows this trend with women more progressive than men, but both men and women [are] moving to the left (men in lower numbers),” Chowdhury says.

But behind this is a much bigger social issue — why is it that men and women are experiencing life and politics this differently?

This should be deeply alarming for political movements on the left and the right. Any mainstream political party that becomes too skewed to one demographic is narrowing its appeal and reach.

When it comes to gender, we need to narrow the divide and bring people together.