Vance tasked with winning back young male voters ahead of midterms; allies divided on whether he can

Left · 2Vice President JD Vance is trying to win back young men who swung toward President Donald Trump in 2024, and to persuade them to vote Republican in the November midterms, according to a Politico report relayed by The Independent and Raw Story. 1 2 Left · 1Vance has appeared on manosphere podcasts including Joe Rogan and Jack Posobiec's, and has said the administration is committed to tackling "institutionalized anti-white, anti-male discrimination in this country". 1 Left · 1Trump won 18-24-year-old men by 3 points in 2024, according to CNN exit polling cited by Politico, but his net favourability with the group has fallen to minus 17 in a recent Cygnal poll. 1

Left · 2Both outlets say frustration over the Iran war and the cost of living, including high gas prices, is eroding support among young men. 2 1 Left · 2Allies are upbeat: an RNC official said party data shows persuadable young men lean Republican over Democrat, RNC press secretary Natalie Baldassare called Vance "the perfect messenger", and Posobiec said he is "the most effective messenger to young voters" after interviewing him on Air Force Two. 1 2 Left · 1Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said Vance speaks to young men without talking down to them. 1

Left · 2Others are doubtful: an anonymous person close to the White House said young men may be "a lost cause" in the midterms, a former Trump campaign official said there is no consensus Vance is the right person, and a conservative commentator said his approach concedes Trump's foreign policy is unpopular. 1 2 Left · 1Raw Story adds that allies see Vance's success as potentially decisive in close Senate races in youthful states like Alaska and Texas, and that he is laying groundwork for a possible presidential run; Rachel Bovard of the Conservative Partnership Institute, a longtime ally, noted the burden of speaking to young people as a peer and a potential next president. 2 Left · 2Vance, who has to balance backing Trump on the Iran war with his own opposition to overseas conflicts, said at the Dallas midterm convention that he is not asking for agreement on every policy, and in April acknowledged many young voters dislike the administration's Middle East policy. 1 2