Influencing the Influencers

Sponsored by: Patriot Home Funding

According to the Media Research Center, during the 107 days from the palace coup to election day, Kamala Harris received 78% positive coverage from the 3 major legacy networks- ABC, CBS, and NBC- while President Trump received 85% negative coverage. That is based on analysis of over 600 news segments that aired on those networks, and we know that the major newspapers nationwide, and traditional news magazines, along with cable news, were even worse. To put it in football terms, it was the equivalent of being 3 touchdowns behind before the coin flip, so if you are President Trump, how do you win over 300 electoral votes and flip the margin by 11 million legitimate votes?   

The answer is going to be studied for generations, and represents a tectonic paradigm shift in the way campaign media strategies will be waged going forward. During the campaign, the three legacy media newscasts averaged around a combined 17 million viewers nightly, down slightly from previous years. However, among Gen X and Gen Z viewers, those among 25-54 years of age, ABC was down 17% year over year, NBC was down 14%, and CBS 12%. 

Meanwhile, internal polling spearheaded by Susie Wiles, Chris LaCavita, James Blair, and chief pollster Tony Fabrizo, revealed that Biden and the democrats were bleeding support among young men, particularly those under 40, as inflation took a bite out of their pockets and DEI and transgender favoritism angered them. The polling found that abortion wasn't an important issue for them, that they didn't watch either the networks or cable news, and that they weren't really politically engaged, except through the podcasts they watched. The polling also found that they appreciated and were attracted to Trump's attitude and fighting the establishment.

With input from Dana White, 27 YO Alex Bruscewitz, and 18 YO Barron Trump, the campaign launched a podcast media strategy that statistics suggest was responsible for winning the popular vote, and with it, the electoral landslide. They targeted male dominated, Gen X and Gen Z long form podcasts where Trump could get his message out to males under the age of 54 in an unfiltered, unedited, and generally unbiased manner. 

Trump's initial long form interview with Elon Musk on X Spaces generated 3 billion impressions. At least 27 million watched the broadcast in its entirety. Trump's X account link to the Space was clicked 187 million times. There were 9.6 million viewer comments. The Trump War Room X account linked the interview 227 million times, and Trump raised over a million dollars from a link specifically created for the X space in the first day.

Trump didn't stop there. His appearance on Theo Vonn's podcast generated 3 million views. His interview with Adin Ross generated over 100 million views in total, and for most of the first airing held an audience between 400-500 thousand viewers. Trump also appeared on Logan Paul's YouTube channel, which has 23 million subscribers, and Joe Rogan's podcast, which generated 33 million views, 1.7 million likes, and over 400 thousand comments on YouTube within the first 48 hours.

By contrast, the only long form podcast Kamala Harris did, on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, did 742 thousand views.  

Trump did over 20 long form podcast interviews, mostly targeted to the younger male demographic. While the "mainstream media" was calling Trump a fascist and nazi, and airing what can only be called propaganda against him, Trump took his message directly to the target market where he could make the largest gains- males under the age of 54, young people in general, and first time voters. The strategy was to hold onto his share of female voters and max out his potential among males and new voters.    

And that's not all. Trump sent out his surrogates- Musk, RFK, Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, JD Vance, Dana White, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tucker Carlson, among others- and they made the rounds of the podcasts, too, generating millions of views and driving the message home to the target market in an informative and entertaining format.

Trump increased his share from 2020 among hispanic men by 18%, men between 18-29 by 6%, hispanics overall by 13% and 4% among asians. Trump won first time voters by 9%. 

That's the difference in the election right there, despite Harris' overall media favoritism and financial advantage, spending over $1 billion in just over 3 months.

By incorporating and implementing this strategy, Trump neutralized and marginalized the democrats' propaganda arm of the mainstream media and revealed them for the dying dinosaurs they really are, while reaching his target market in their favorite interactive media formats. Not only that, but with JD Vance, Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Dana White, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tucker Carlson, etc rising to positions of prominance in the Trump circle and MAGA movement, Trump has left the MAGA movement specifically and the GOP in general extremely well positioned to carry forward and expand his legacy, which is to make America great again, for a generation. Trump has built the movement from the ground up, with truly the best and brightest, and built it to sustain. Absolutely brilliant, especially when you consider the odds and obstacles that he was up against.

History will now have to reflect that in addition to authoring the greatest comeback in the history of American politics, against the greatest odds, Trump will also be remembered as the greatest visionary, the greatest strategist, the greatest CEO, and if successful in his second term, perhaps the greatest president since reconstruction.