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Barron Trump is the latest family member pitching in on his dad’s presidential bid, and that role is helping Donald Trump inject some youthful toxicity into his campaign as it struggles to combat Kamala Harris’ momentum with young voters.
Last month, the elder Trump participated in an awkward video stream with controversial Kick streamer Adin Ross in his quest to woo young voters. At the time, the former president suggested that Barron was the one who first told him about Ross, telling the streamer that his 18-year-old son is "a big fan of yours."
Ross has used his popular platform to promote people like white supremacist Nick Fuentes, and he was banned from Twitch for “hateful conduct” after his stream featured an unmoderated chat filled with racial slurs posted by Twitch users.
The video below, in which Ross smells the chair of deeply controversial and overtly misogynistic right-wing podcaster Andrew Tate, perfectly embodies the juvenile, far-right-friendly character Ross assumes online.
Ross is just one of several MAGA-aligned podcasters Trump has appeared with in recent months, along with MAGA-friendly podcaster and former MTV "Road Rules" participant Theo Von, and Trump-supporting social media influencer Logan Paul.
Trump discussed Barron's role in the campaign during an interview with The Daily Mail published earlier this week. When asked if his son is helping win over Gen Z voters, Trump said:
He is — he knows so much about it. Adin Ross — you know, I mean I do — some people that I wasn’t so familiar with. Different generation. He knows every one of them. And we’ve had tremendous success, as you know.
“We did three unusual — and I don’t know what you’d call them but it’s a platform — with three people that I don’t know, but three people that Barron knows very well," Trump said. "[He] actually calls all of them like friends of his because it's a different generation."
"They don’t grow up watching television the same way as we did. They grow up looking at the internet or watching a computer. But Barron knew them."
Below is a picture of Barron at Mar-a-Lago alongside two more far-right-friendly podcasters, Patrick Bet-David and Justin Waller.
As liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America noted, Patrick Bet-David is known for platforming extremists and conspiracy theorists, and Waller is perhaps best known for his links to Andrew Tate and his association with the "manosphere," a toxic world of misogynistic influencers. Both men told press outlets that Barron invited them to Mar-a-Lago.
I anticipate more of these types of content creators will make their way into Donald Trump's orbit soon. Last month, Trump allies launched a $20 million voter outreach effort designed to reach young, male voters using the pro-Trump podcast “Full Send,” the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and other Trump-friendly platforms. The Atlantic aptly labeled this “Trump’s Red-Pill Podcast Tour.” The prominence of these figures now aligns with some of my past reporting on the outsize role that right-wing podcasters and influencers have played in the push to elect Trump by softening his image.
And now we know who's helping steer Trump toward these toxic talkers: his teen son.