These influencers are attracting casual fans and Democratic voters while stirring up online backlash and drawing criticism from the right.
Gen Z is the most politically divided generation. Here’s what we know
Gen Z is the most politically divided generation. Here’s what we currently know about how it affects relationships with colleagues.
Jared Schulte flailed his arms like an inflatable doll sitting outside a used car lot in a small American town during the first weekend of Coachella.
“Imagine hating me in a mood like this,” she captioned an Instagram video post of herself in action at the California Music and Arts Festival on April 13. “Trump has more rhythm than you guys,” one user commented. “Damn, that’s a terrible blow,” Schulte, 22, responded with two crying emojis.
At a time when Schulte was gaining more than 500,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, and X and gaining popularity, fellow influencers were harshly criticizing the Trump administration.
The day before, 23-year-old Harry Sisson, who has 3.9 million followers on Instagram, TikTok, and X, posted, “JD Vance continues to lose for generations. Good luck JD!”
Mr. Schulte and Mr. Sison, two of the most prominent young straight white men on the left, are using a similar strategy to that of California Governor Gavin Newsom, hitting back at members of the MAGA movement in President Trump’s scathing style.
These influencers, hailing from different parts of the country, have attracted casual fans and Democratic supporters while sparking backlash online and drawing criticism from the right.
Sison: “Trump promised young people but hasn’t delivered”
Schulte and Sisson, who are based in New York and Texas, are helping Democrats build support among Gen Z voters with each cheeky post.
Jess Rauschberg, a Seton Hall professor who studies digital culture, said there has been a “huge attitude” shift toward young white men like Schulte and Sison since the second year of Trump’s second term. Right now, Democrats are relying on figures like Newsom and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to get their message across and resonate with white men.
During the 2024 campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris struggled to attract support from young white men. Meanwhile, during his candidacy, Trump used male-dominated podcasts to reinforce messages about affordability and the economy aimed at young people.
”Trump promised them these things and said, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to make your dreams come true,'” Sison told USA TODAY. “None of it has come true.”
Mr. Sison uses his identity to confront the perception that Mr. Trump has failed to fulfill his campaign promises. He antagonizes Trump followers in his content, commenting harshly on headlines rather than reading the news.
Schulte infuriates Republicans on a daily basis. She mocked conservative podcaster Katie Miller, who is married to Trump’s immigration czar, with an “X” after she wrote online that “liberal men are not attractive.” He praised lesbians in an April 20 X-post, saying, “People who oppose gay adoption have clearly never met a lesbian woman.” “They are some of the coolest and most loving people I have ever met.”
Mr. Schulte and Mr. Sison follow each other, post gym photos of themselves flexing their physiques, and capitalize on Republican ownership of masculinity. They also regularly slam Trump for his past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a topic that is a surefire irritant for the president. And conservative online commenters respond by calling them gay.
A story that aligns the goals of the Democratic Party with the goals of white youth.
Recent surveys show that public support for the president is declining among young voters. A spring youth poll released by Yale University in mid-April found that Mr. Trump’s approval ratings had declined the most among women under 35 and men under 30. Young voters polled, with the exception of men between the ages of 18 and 22, turned to Democrats.
In a social media post in February, Schulte shared a selfie on Instagram wearing camouflage, followed by a photo of him with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, a photo of him holding a “LIBERTY & JUSTICE 4 ALL” sign above his head, and a snapshot of himself with California Sen. Adam Schiff and potential 2028 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
By demonstrating masculine empathy, Schulte said he hopes to reduce rampant loneliness among young people and address growing disillusionment. “I’m trying to find ways to spread the idea that, ‘You can be a man, you can love lifting, you can go hunting, you can do normal things, you can be a very manly man,’ and you can still talk to your closest friends about what’s going on with you, go to therapy, whatever,” Schulte said.
But part of Schulte’s appeal is that It was done Become a Republican. He hunts deer in camouflage even though he lives in Austin and is left-handed. Schulte is a NASCAR fan. He is attracted to the looks of women like Caitlan Collins. The prime-time host of CNN’s “The Source” is known for his chic style, bombastic statements and, most notably, for angering Trump since his first term in office.
Debra Reiter, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said it’s unclear whether efforts by TikTok’s liberal allies will move forward. Voter turnout is primarily important for winning elections.
Reiter said disillusioned voters don’t necessarily cut across party lines. They will stop participating in elections.
infuriate Republicans
A graduate of Texas A&M, Schulte is a self-described lover of the gym, the outdoors, and “side quests” (one-off adventures), as per his Instagram profile. His flowing haircut mimics the style of some members of the U.S. men’s hockey team, who looked “bored” when they attended President Trump’s State of the Union address on February 26.
He grew up with happily married parents in a wealthy family in Frisco, Texas, and began posting content during his sophomore year of high school. He then joined a Christian youth group and influenced his online content. Schulte says she was publicly deprogrammed from her Christian faith during her freshman year of college.
Instead, he found faith in progressive politics.
During the 2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Schulte became involved with a group of other Christian creators in the House of Praise. The Internet collective was a religious version of the short-lived Hype House, a secular consortium that accelerated the careers of pop star Addison Rae and “Ordinary” hitmaker Alex Warren.
Schulte started thinking about religion in December 2021, during her first year of college. Although he felt uncomfortable with the traditional view of Christianity because he interpreted parts of the Bible as “non-Christians are bad people,” he recognized that non-religious people were still good people in his life.
“If we continue to denigrate people, make mean comments, and be disrespectful to people, people will not want what we have in us,” Schulte said in a video from March 2021, when he was still a Praise House member. “I think that’s especially true when it comes to politics. We do a terrible job of expressing our opinions in a loving way.”
“Things have changed dramatically.”
Sison, who knows Schulte from online circles, achieved viral lefty fame after breaking into the digital world as a teenager. In March 2020, 17-year-old Sisson gave a virtual TED Talk to Trump. In the video, he claims that Gen Z will consider climate policy when voting. This foreshadowed the series of content he posted in support of former President Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign that would eventually be praised online.
“You can go on social media and see what your friends are doing, but you can also watch videos of dogs and cats,” Sisson said in an interview with USA TODAY last fall. “Things have changed dramatically now, especially since Mr. Musk took over Twitter and then the Trump administration came back.”
Sisson was a liberal superstar in college. He first enrolled at George Washington University and then transferred to New York University, where he still attends. He visited the White House and appeared on the cover of Town & Country magazine. He met with former President Barack Obama ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Sison also met with Biden’s Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
He is a frequent target of President Trump’s supporters. They launched an unsuccessful online campaign last year asking ICE to deport him. (He was born in Singapore but is an American citizen.) In October, President Trump’s official Truth Social account posted an AI-generated video depicting the president dumping sewage on protesters. Sison, who had participated in the “No Kings” rally, was also seen in the crowd.
Young people are “in a hurry”
On February 24, Mr. Sison moderated Governor Newsom’s tour of New York City. Governor Newsom was promoting his new memoir, “Youth in a Hurry.” The title evokes the book’s journey from Mr. Newsom’s childhood struggles with dyslexia to his political rise on the West Coast. Two months later, Schulte soaked up the April desert sun as the pop star danced to Justin Bieber’s abbreviated Coachella set in front of a laptop on a table.
Schulte later accused Fox News of missing the point after the cable news network framed Bieber’s performance as controversial due to its austere setting. This generation of young men seems to be looking for the same thing in their lives, beneath the surface of discussions about masculinity.
Mr. Schulte and Mr. Sisson and their Republican rivals. Sisson told USAT that he is a man at heart who wants a life “like the one I envisioned when I was younger.” He likes going to the gym. “I would like to have another thorough discussion,” he said. “We want to have a space in politics where we can make change.”
He wants to be successful and have a family of his own and have a home “somewhere.” Probably most young people want that too. Black or white, gay or straight, yes, red or blue.
