'Raging against the machine': Young people turning toward MAGA
Podcast host Brett Cooper joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why more young people are turning toward conservatism and how social media has impacted the trend.
Young voters are increasingly turning to the pro-Trump conservative movement to veer away from divisive politics and former President Biden's "empty promises," according to one Gen Z podcast host.
"The Brett Cooper Show" host Brett Cooper argued some young voters are trending conservative on the heels of Biden's tenure in office, detailing why they have been willing to walk away from their historically progressive values during "FOX & Friends."
"Gen Z, we were born into an incredibly new period of time that was very unprecedented," Cooper told Earhardt on Monday. "We were raised in division, like my entire adolescence was basically… the first Trump presidency and then Biden, and I think we were just ready for something new, especially after Biden, because obviously, the system wasn't working."
CPAC STRAW POLL REVEALS WHO CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE WILL BE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE
Donald Trump speaks to CPAC crowd on Aug. 6, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
"Everything that we had been promised, everything that Biden had said… from student loans to fixing the economy, it hadn't come to fruition, and it felt like a lot of empty promises," she continued.
The divisive political climate and the Biden agenda set the stage for young voters to "walk away" from far-left values, Cooper said.
"When looking at my generation, I think that they realized, like, 'Let's burn it down," basically. Let's try something new," she said. "We're willing to walk away from what we've known, what we've been told is empathetic and inclusive and correct, and… what young people should believe, and we were willing to try something new."
"Trump is in this new conservative party and MAGA is… the raging against the machine, and young people are rebellious, and they're willing to try something new," she continued.
Vice President JD Vance shared a message for young voters last week at CPAC, explaining that the Trump administration is fighting for them to make their lives and futures better.
"We're trying to make your life better," he said Thursday. "That is the simple thrust of President Trump's policy. We need you. We recognize that, we need you, and we're fighting for you every single day."
Vance also rejected the cultural shift away from masculinity.
"I think our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge," Vance said. "You should try to cast aside your family. You should try to suppress what makes you a young man in the first place."
"My message to young men is don’t allow this broken culture to send you a message that you’re a bad person because you’re a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends, or because you’re competitive," he said.
Cooper said Vance's message hit home with a lot of young voters.
"They know that the economy has not been great. They can't buy homes," she said. "They're stressed about their futures. They think that they can't have kids, and so when you hear JD Vance saying things like, 'We're trying to make your life better at CPAC,' I think that resonated with a lot of young voters."
Cooper credited Trump's 2024 win to "new media" appearances as young voters increasingly turn to social media to stay up-to-date on the news.
"They're going on TikTok. They're listening to their favorite podcasts, and so I think a great thing for him to do would be to keep reaching them in that regard, because that's how they're going to stay in touch," she said.
Young voters at CPAC echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of Trump's utilization of platforms like TikTok.
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"The TikTok audience has grown in conservatism and conservative engagement, and it's gotten bigger and bigger," one voter told Fox News Digital.
"I think that all the new conservative influencers who've been utilizing channels like TikTok and Instagram have really connected with the youth," another voter said.
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