Newsom says Democrats could learn from Charlie Kirk on reaching young men in politics
NEW YORK (KGO) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom says Democrats are failing to connect with young men in the same way conservative activist Charlie Kirk did before his assassination.
Newsom's remarks were in conversation with former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Foundation's 20th annual Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City Wednesday. The two leaders discussed a slew of issues, including how Democrats have lost a critical voting bloc that once helped elect Clinton in the 1990s.
"Everywhere in the country we read that young men are alienated," Clinton said before asking Newsom about a new state initiative aimed at helping boys and young men feel more connected in their communities.
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In his response, the California governor lambasted his fellow Democrats for avoiding the issue of the "crisis of men and boys."
"It's hard for members of my own party to say that because we some feel it's a zero-sum game, that we have to address the issues of women and girls and solve for them before we can get to the crisis of men and boys. And when I say crisis, look at the suicide rates, look at the dropout rates, look at the deaths of despair," Newsom said.
He credited Kirk for building a deeply loyal following among young men through the youth outreach political organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA. Despite their political differences, the governor hosted Kirk on his inaugural podcast episode, This is Gavin Newsom back in March, where the two spoke at length about why Republicans were able to capitalize on the issues facing young men.
"Charlie Kirk's ability - what he was able to achieve in terms of organizing the campuses, engaging these young men, addressing their grievances, giving them some sense of hope that someone cared, that they mattered, that they were seen - he was able to produce and organize around that in a deeply meaningful way," Newsom said. "And the Democratic Party was nowhere to be found on the issue."
The "crisis" amongst young men Newsom spoke of is more than a feeling. An April national poll from the Harvard Institute of Politics found that only 16% of young men feel a strong sense of belonging. A Pew Research study from October of last year found that a quarter of Americans.
Gen Z digital strategist and content creator Olivia Julianna said Kirk resonated with so many young men because of a "void" they feel in American society, especially when it comes to male role models. She pointed to Kirk's openness about his faith, successful career and family life.
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"One of the top words that people associate with the Democratic Party is weakness and weak. And if you're a young man...you're consuming things that are telling you that you need to be strong and you need to be a foundational element in your home, then you're not going to want to associate yourself with people who you see as weak," she said.
Julianna - who has more than one million followers on her social media accounts - told ABC7 News there is no liberal equivalent of Kirk, but said Newsom is the only Democrat successfully trying to reach this demographic of voters.
"One of the reasons why Gavin Newsom's strategy is so popular is that it's unfamiliar and it's got this type of energy and spirit to it that we're really not used to seeing from Democrats, because it doesn't fall into this model of decency politics," she said. "We have to have risky conversations. We have to be able to talk to people we disagree with. We have to be able to talk to people we disagree with, and we have to be able to do that in every single media form that we can, so we can reach as many voters as possible."
But political experts caution it may be too soon to tell.
"We won't know for a few years whether it's successful or not," said Dan Schnur, a political professor at UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California.
More than half of men under 30 supported Trump, according to an Associated Press poll, which surveyed more than 120,000 voters after the November 2024 election.
Schnur said young men voted for Donald Trump in 2024 largely because of economic concerns and a general disconnection from the cultural messages Democrats were sending.
"They believed that he would be better for their economic prospects than the Democrats," Schnur said. "Many of these young men simply did not feel like they had a place in a Democratic party heavily populated by highly educated, wealthier voters. The disappointment that many of these working-class voters, particularly young men, are feeling might give (Democrats) an opportunity in the midterms next year to win them back."
